National player draws conclusion: “It’s all over now”: Lena Oberdorf’s difficult year

Once it cracks. Like a branch that breaks quietly but suddenly. Perhaps the most valuable knee in German women’s football speaks up in the middle of a conversation on the Bayern campus in the north of Munich. Lena Oberdorf still continues to talk about nasty hateful comments, her torn cruciate ligament in her cracking knee and the resulting omission from the Olympics. “I think it was my most difficult year,” says the national player about 2024.

Oberdorf, who usually marches through the midfield with enormous force, sounds thoughtful but also brutally honest. “I didn’t enjoy being on the pitch as much for a while,” she says about the time after last year’s disappointing and historic World Cup preliminary round exit with the DFB team in Australia.

“I just reeled it off”

At that time Oberdorf was still playing in Wolfsburg, perhaps she played too often. Deadlines chased deadlines, sometimes the club called, sometimes the national team, sometimes sponsors or journalists asked for appearances. “I just did it. I just worked on football,” explains Oberdorf. “But you also have to say that we’re talking about a time that’s now almost a year and a half ago. A lot has happened since then and I’ve developed further.” Also sporty.

She needed a fresh start, and FC Bayern was tempting. The club about which she once said in 2022: “I can’t imagine going to Bayern.” And the club that continues to be VfL Wolfsburg’s biggest rival. When the change, for which a Bundesliga record fee of a rumored 400,000 euros flowed from the Isar to the Mittelland Canal, was announced in the spring, it also generated hate messages on social media.

“Something like that is never okay, with anyone.”

“All the loud comments and opinions gave me the feeling that there was pure chaos around me,” says Oberdorf, looking back. “How bad is it that it seems to be part of it? That’s what shocked me the most,” she explains: “Why do footballers have to listen to hate comments and death threats? Whoever says it’s part of the business is lying That’s completely wrong. Something like that is never okay, for anyone.”

She still helped VfL win the DFB Cup with a strong performance – in the final, of course, against FC Bayern. “To achieve such a performance in a game like this with so much focus shows her class, she is world class,” praised Wolfsburg’s coach Tommy Stroot after the 2-0 win. “It’s crazy to be able to deliver such stability at such a young age, even under such focus and conditions.”

But on July 16th, Oberdorf’s system collapsed, his physical stability was gone and his right knee was damaged. Torn cruciate ligament against Austria, the Olympic Games are a thing of the past. “At first you think, now it’s all over, no game has been played and you’ll be out for a long time.” That’s what went through her head.

“I always pushed it away”

Then she wanted to suppress the terrible diagnosis. “I always pushed it away and I always said: Hey, everything’s fine, it’ll be fine again. Because I felt like it was summer break and I’m just free right now. And as soon as it starts again, I’ll be there.”

She was there again, even at the games in France, just as a spectator. At some point she realized, also with the help of a mental coach, that she had to find out what the world outside of football still had to offer her. Oberdorf picked up the guitar again, got a DJ booth, went around Munich, did things that would otherwise have fallen victim to the busy football schedule.

“I’m currently going through this process in an extreme way”

But above all, Lena Oberdorf has been working with: Lena Oberdorf ever since. “I’m currently going through this process in an extreme way. Simply because football has completely broken down.” She’s just realizing “what else defines me besides football and what I want for my life. I also want to go out among people, experience things and that’s when I notice that I’m blossoming a little bit.”

She would like to take the wonderful experiences with her into the new year, ideally also to the European Championships in Switzerland (July 2nd to 27th). “My wish is that I make it to the European Championships and can play a few games before that.” Then with supple knees and a lot of confidence.