Why Germany’s players are carrying around a crochet koala at the Women’s World Cup | OneFootball

The German women’s national team have gone viral for carting around a cute crochet koala at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Earlier this week, Die Nationalelf began their World Cup campaign with a bang, triumphing 6-0 over Morocco at Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium.

German goals on the evening came from Alexandra Popp, Klara Bühl, and Lea Schüller, while Hanane Aït El Haj and Yasmin Mrabet both unfortunately turned the ball into their own net.

The scoreline and Popp’s ET-inspired goal celebration made headlines. However, prior to the game, an unlikely mascot was involved in a team huddle and sparked a flurry of interest via social media.

Introducing the newest member of the team... Waru

During Germany's encounter against Morocco, a cuddly koala was spotted sitting on the grass, and lying on top of the shirt of injured defender, Carolin Simon. The Bayern Munich star was ruled out of the World Cup on the eve of the tournament and has been unable to play.

Crocheted by Klara Buhl, the koala bear that has captured attention is ‘wearing’ a white jumper bearing the German flag and is named after the Australian Aboriginal word for fire - Waru.

The cute comforter has been adopted by the team, with Lena Oberdorf, Sara Doorsoun and Popp photographed with the crochet creation during the Women's World Cup.

Speaking about Waru, Laura Freigan said that the toy is ‘like a symbol for the team’ and ‘for the tournament in Australia’.

“Because [Buhl] did it, obviously it’s extra special,” she added.

Klara Buhl explains how crocheting helped her mentally

Buhl has explained that she picked up crocheting when she was unable to play at Euro 2022 after testing positive for COVID-19. She admitted that although the hobby is ‘old fashioned’, it was very ‘relaxing’.

“That [missing Euro 2022] was hard to deal with,” the midfielder said, according to The Guardian. “I had so much energy that I wanted to share with the team, that I sat down to crochet 23 hearts, one for each player. So that was my contribution and it helped me mentally as well.”

On the origin of Waru’s name, Buhl said: “The team have looked into names that they use here in Australia, and what they mean, and in the end we decided on the name ‘Waru’.

“I’ve noticed that he’s brought about lots of energy. He gives us a lot of joy and positive energy, and hopefully a lot of luck,” she continued.

Fans across social media have been going wild for the cute koala bear, with one writing: “Klara Buhl crocheted a koala wearing a Germany jersey and now the Germany national team just carries it around with them and poses with it for pictures??? That is so cute omg.”

A second joked: “Brazil: Win it for Marta! USA: Three-peat and Rapinoe! Germany: Win it for our emotional support crotchet koala Waru!”

Another tweeted a photograph of Oberdof and Waru and wrote: “Lena Oberdorf, full time footballer, part-time koala carer.”

Whether Waru helps Germany get all the way to the Women's World Cup final remains to be seen.