BERLIN (AP) — Marie-Louise Eta became the first female coach to take charge of a Bundesliga game, but her Union Berlin team failed to live up to the occasion on Saturday as it lost 2-1 to Wolfsburg.
Eta was appointed interim manager this week and now has four more games to ensure Union stays in the top division before she takes over Union’s women’s team for next season.
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Wolfsburg's Patrick Wimmer celebrates his side's opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Augsburg players celebrate their goal during their German Bundesliga soccer match against Bayer Leverkusen in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa via AP)
New head coach of German Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin Marie-Louise Eta looks on during the warm up prior to the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramaric scores a penalty during their German Bundesliga soccer match against Borussia Dortmund in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
New head coach of German Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin Marie-Louise Eta looks on during the warm up prior to the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Patrick Wimmer and Dženan Pejčinović scored early in each half for visiting Wolfsburg to end its 12-game run without a win and revive its hopes of escaping relegation. Wolfsburg remains second to last but it’s just two points behind St. Pauli in the relegation playoff place with four rounds remaining.
Union ultimately paid the price for a lack of efficiency after creating the better chances and finishing strongly. Oliver Burke’s goal in the 85th minute was too late for the Köpenick-based team, which was also frustrated by late saves from Wolfsburg's Kamil Grabara.
“If you shoot 26 times at goal or try to shoot at goal then you're doing a lot right, and from that point of view the performance was in order today,” Union right back Christopher Trimmel said. “Still, we need to improve on some aspects.”
Union, which has only won two games in 2026, fired Steffan Baumgart after last weekend’s loss at Heidenheim and finds itself just six points above the relegation zone.
Eta previously made history in 2023 as the first female assistant coach in the men’s Bundesliga, also at Union, and has been coaching the under-19 men’s team at the club, where she's affectionately known as Louie.
“For Louie, of course it's difficult to impose all the new things in just three or four days so everything can be implemented immediately. That's perfectly understandable. It would have been difficult for any coach, and yet we still managed to execute a solid match plan well. A lot of things worked out,” Trimmel said. “I’m staying positive.”
Andrej Kramarić scored two penalties for Hoffenheim in a 2-1 win over second-placed Borussia Dortmund. That opens the way for Bayern Munich to seal the title at home against Stuttgart on Sunday.
Bayern, which has five games remaining compared to Dortmund’s four, leads by 12 points and needs just one more point to be sure of finishing top.
Werder Bremen boosted its survival hopes with a 3-1 win at home against Hamburger SV in their northern derby. Bremen moved level with the visitors on 31 points, five points above St. Pauli.
Midtable Augsburg defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 away and dented the home team’s hopes of Champions League qualification.
Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Leipzig later.
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Wolfsburg's Patrick Wimmer celebrates his side's opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Augsburg players celebrate their goal during their German Bundesliga soccer match against Bayer Leverkusen in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa via AP)
New head coach of German Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin Marie-Louise Eta looks on during the warm up prior to the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramaric scores a penalty during their German Bundesliga soccer match against Borussia Dortmund in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
New head coach of German Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin Marie-Louise Eta looks on during the warm up prior to the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
LUANDA, Angola (AP) — Pope Leo XIV challenged Angola’s leaders to break the "cycle of interests” that have plundered and exploited Africa for centuries, as he arrived in the southern African country on Saturday with a message of encouragement for its long-suffering people.
Leo's arrival in Angola, the oil-and-mineral rich former Portuguese colony, marked the third leg of his four-nation African voyage. En route from Cameroon, he spoke again of the ongoing back-and-forth with U.S. President Donald Trump over the Iran war.
Leo, history’s first U.S.-born pope, said that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace, justice and brotherhood in Africa.
In Angola, Leo met with President Joao Lourenco and delivered his first speech to Angolan government authorities, in which he referred repeatedly to Angola’s tortured history of colonial plunder and civil war.
“I desire to meet you in the spirit born of peace and to affirm that your people possess treasures that cannot be bought or stolen,” he said. "There dwells within you a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish.”
Angola, which has a population of around 38 million, gained independence from Portugal in 1975. But it still bears the scars of a devastating civil war that began straight after independence and raged on and off for 27 years before finally ending in 2002. More than a half-million people are believed to have been killed.
For years, the civil war was a Cold War proxy conflict, with the United States and apartheid South Africa backing one side and the Soviet Union and Cuba backing the other.
Angola is now the fourth-largest oil producer in Africa and among the world’s top 20 producers, according to the International Energy Agency. The country is also the world’s No. 3 diamond producer and has significant deposits of gold and highly sought after critical minerals.
But despite its varied natural resources, the World Bank estimated in 2023 that more than 30% of the population lived on less than $2.15 a day.
“You know well that all too often people have looked — and continue to look — to your lands in order to give, or, more commonly, in order to take,” Leo told the Angolan authorities.
The pontiff said: “It is necessary to break this cycle of interests, which reduces reality, and even life itself, to mere commodities.”
While in Cameroon, Leo had railed against the “chains of corruption” that were hindering development, as well as the “handful of tyrants” who were ravaging Earth with war and exploitation. He raised similar points in Angola.
“How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism! At every level, we see how it sustains a model of development that discriminates and excludes, while still presuming to impose itself as the only viable option.”
Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the late former president who led Angola for 38 years from 1979 to 2017, was accused of diverting billions of dollars of public money to his family, largely from the country’s oil revenue, as millions struggled in poverty.
After Lourenco took over as president, his administration estimated that at least $24 billion was stolen or misappropriated by dos Santos. Lourenco’s administration has vowed to crack down on corruption and has worked to recover funds allegedly stolen during the dos Santos era.
But critics note that Angola still has deep problems with corruption and have questioned if Lourenco’s actions were more aimed at political rivals so as to consolidate his power.
Angola, on the southwest coast of Africa, was considered to be the epicenter of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a Portuguese colony. More than 5 million of the roughly 12.5 million enslaved Africans were sent across the ocean on ships departing from Angola, more than any other country, though not all of them were Angolans.
The highlight of Leo’s visit to Angola is expected to be his visit on Sunday to Muxima, south of Luanda. It’s a popular Catholic shrine in a country where around 58% of the population is Catholic.
The Church of Our Lady of Muxima was built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and became a hub in the slave trade. It remains a reminder of the inextricable link hundreds of years ago between Roman Catholicism and the exploitation of the African continent.
Leo has Black and white ancestors who included both enslaved people and slave owners, according to genealogical research. He's going to Muxima to pray the rosary, in recognition of the site becoming a popular pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.
Gerald Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The plane carrying Pope Leo XIV arrives in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Pope Leo XIV waves after arriving in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
People traveling on a motorcycles ride past a mural featuring Pope Leo XIV, in Luanda, South Africa, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
The plane carrying Pope Leo XIV arrives in Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Pope Leo XIV arrives in procession to celebrate Mass at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Cameroon's President Paul Biya, left, and his wife Chantal wait for the start of a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People wait for Pope Leo XIV at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate Mass at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate Mass at Yaounde Ville Airport, Cameroon, Saturday, April 18, 2026 on the sixth day of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
