World Cup star Popp trained to be a zookeeper after watching turtles have sex

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Women’s World Cup star Alexandra Popp trained to be a zookeeper after watching turtles have sex. The striker was part of the Germany team that exited the World Cup on Thursday after being held to a 1-1 draw by South Korea in their final group game.

Germany captain Popp, who has won 131 caps for her country, held the hopes of a nation on her shoulders at the start of the World Cup and bagged a brace as the two-time champions thrashed Morocco 6-0 in their opening game.

The 32-year-old then struck an 89th-minute penalty against Colombia in Germany’s second match to level the scores. But the south American team went on to claim victory courtesy of a goal in the 97th minute.

And despite scoring a fourth goal of the tournament against South Korea, Popp was unable to prevent her country from being dumped out of the tournament, with Germany finishing the group stages two points adrift of both Colombia and Morocco.

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Popp is clearly a talented player, having bagged an incredible 66 goals at international level. But she appears to already have one eye on her future outside of football.

According to German publication Bild, animals played a big role in the player’s life from an early age. Her father Andreas, who died at the end of last year, owned a butcher’s shop, and her grandfather enjoyed hunting. And it was while she was representing her country at the U20 World Cup in 2010 that she zoned in on a pair of turtles going at it at Bochum Zoo.

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Popp recalled the incident in her autobiography as she reveals her team-mate Marina Hegering said: “I’ve never thought about what sex looks like in turtles but, if I did, I certainly wouldn’t have imagined it that way. Why are they screaming like that?”

Popp whispered in reply: “I don’t know, but I want to find out.” And she added: “Such a zoo. I could feel comfortable there.” The Wolfsburg forward went on to begin her training as an animal keeper in 2012 and completed it in December 2015.

Meanwhile, Popp and her team-mates will be devastated that their World Cup has come to an end. And after their draw on Thursday, South Korea manager Colin Bell said: “Everybody would have thought that was it when Popp scored, but we kept fighting and kept playing. I didn’t know that Germany would be out. I only found out four or five minutes after the match. I lived there and played football there. I am surprised and also sad that they didn’t get into the last 16.”

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