“Segui il tuo cuore”, translated from Italian, means “follow your heart”. In line with her life motto, Valentina Maceri showed assertiveness even as a little girl and did not let anyone stop her childhood dream of becoming a professional footballer – not even her Italian father, who actually did not want his pretty daughter to disfigure her legs while playing football. She played for all the junior national teams of the German Football Association (DFB) before playing for Hellas Verona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the Coppa Italia and Seria A.
Despite a promising future as a footballer, she decided to take a different path at the age of just under 20. The young Italian no longer saw herself in the role of an athlete, but had a different vision for her future life. She hung up her football boots and did her Bachelor of Arts at the Media Academy in Nuremberg before training to become a TV presenter – true to the motto: “Segui il tuo cuore” she had her sights firmly set on her new career goal.
Valentina Maceri Lecture topics:
- How to score with femininity in a male domain
- Career advantage despite inequality of opportunity
- Women’s quota vs. performance principle
Sport 1 recognised the talent of the former professional footballer already during her internship and offered her the co-presentation of the “Fantalk” on Sport1 alongside Thomas Helmer. On Sky, too, the Nuremberg native thrilled viewers with her charm in the format “MEINE11 – die Playlist der Fußballstars” and scored points with empathy and expertise with her male interview partners such as Benedikt Höwedes, Rafinha, Benjamin Henrichs and many others.
Since March 2020, the attractive sports journalist has been working exclusively for Axel Springer in the fields of football, motor sports and boxing, where she is involved in the development of Bild TV as a presenter and reporter and presents the formats “Bundesliga, der Samstag”, “Bundesliga, der Sonntag” as well as “PS: Ich liebe Dich”, the “BILD Fight Night” and “Bild Live News”, among others. Since March 2023, she has hosted the “UEFA Champions League Highlight Show” on DAZN. Her aim is to dispel classic clichés and show that women can also talk competently about football.
As a former professional footballer, Valentina Maceri has set herself the goal of eliminating classic clichés and standardising the principle of female, competent football presenters/experts.
With her lectures and appearances, she stimulates controversial discussions as a speaker time and again. Her provocative keynotes “Career advantage despite unequal opportunities”, “How to score points with femininity in a male domain” and “Women’s quota vs. performance principle” show that our society is currently only wielding the moral club without really tackling the actual cause of the problem.
Looking for a moderator? In addition to her job in front of the camera, Valentina is also an event moderator and convinces with her empathetic and professional manner. She turns your event into something very special by inspiring your guests with her passion and confident stage presence and making your event entertaining but captivating. If you are looking for a young, modern and charming presenter, then the attractive Berliner by choice with Italian roots is exactly the right person for your presentation.