Female commentator makes breakthrough on German TV with 1st commentary on men’s football game

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ADDS TV COMMENTATOR - TV sports commentator Christina Graf poses during the German second division soccer match between SSV Jahn Regensburg and Hertha BSC Berlin, in Regensburg, southern Germany, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Christina Graf became the country\'s first female TV commentator at a men\'s professional football game when she covered Hertha Berlin\'s visit to Jahn Regensburg in the second division. (AP Photo/dpa, Armin Weigel)

BERLIN – German football fans heard an unfamiliar voice Sunday when a woman gave running commentary on a men’s football game on national TV for the first time.

Christina Graf became the country’s first female commentator at a men’s professional football game when she covered Hertha Berlin’s visit to Jahn Regensburg in the second division.

The 27-year-old Graf beat out around 1,200 applicants to win a casting show for her new job with broadcaster Sky.

Graf tells the dpa news agency “It’s a huge opportunity” and that she’s not “the very extroverted type and won’t go ballistic.”

Claudia Neumann was the first female to commentate live on a football game for German TV in 2011 when the country hosted the Women’s World Cup.

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