Nobody defends as passionately as Lena Oberdorf. At the women’s soccer World Cup, she should lead Germany to the title – and grow into a world star herself.
When Lena Oberdorf gets serious, it gets quiet in the stadium. Minute 25 in the game against Zambia, the last test before the World Cup: Oberdorf rushes towards her opponent, one leg ahead, it often looks like karate with her. She hits the ball cleanly, but with such force that her opponent falls to the ground as if she’s hit a wall. On the grandstands of the Ronhof sports park in Fürth, the spectators hold their breath for a moment.
Oberdorf turns on her own axis on the pitch, she passes the ball with a calmness, as if this hand-to-hand combat had never happened. When the opponent pulls herself together, relief mingles with the murmurs of the audience.