A historic final at a historic location: the European Championship final between Germany and England will take place at Wembley Stadium at the end of July. On the pitch: Sara Doorsoun, defender at Eintracht Frankfurt. Only months before she thought about the end of her national team career.
At the 2019 World Cup, she was still a regular in the DFB team. Before the EM 2022 in England, however, Sara Doorsoun’s place in the squad is shaking. In a preparatory course around three months before the start of the tournament, she is only nominated later. And the 31-year-old herself is also thinking about ending her career in the national team: “There were moments when I thought: Is it worth fighting for? I’ve already played two big tournaments. It wasn’t clear to me whether I go to the courses.”
Doorsoun decides to do so after an honest exchange with national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. And convinces with her uncompromising way of defending. “Before the squad was announced, there was a friendly against a male youth team. During a counterattack, I knocked down the opponent, I think he still remembers it today. And that showed what I can bring to the European Championship.”
“I thought: That’s it”
The national coach is also convinced. But Sara Doorsoun doesn’t know anything about that until the squad is announced. This takes place in a one-on-one interview with Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, Doorsoun recalls: “I thought she only approached the five players who weren’t there. So I’m sitting in the physio room and I see Martina scurrying across the facility, she looked relatively exhausted . And then she comes up to me and I thought: That’s it.”
The opposite happens: Doorsoun is in the final squad, goes to the EM. This is partly due to their performance in the training camps, but also to a large extent to their move from Wolfsburg to Eintracht Frankfurt. At Wolfsburg, also often on the bench due to injuries, she hoped for a new start from the transfer to Eintracht: “I’m just a player who sometimes brings a relaxed saying. And I lost that in Wolfsburg to some extent. I was afraid of making mistakes close.” In Frankfurt, on the other hand, she had the feeling that she was being trusted: “You can see this self-confidence in my games on the pitch.”
Bitter final against England: “Cucumber Gate”
Doorsoun takes this self-confidence into the EM. Even if she often sits on the bench at the beginning, she is ready when it counts. And in the final it depends: If the score is 1-1, she is substituted on in extra time. “It was very noisy. You have to experience this stadium when almost everyone is against you and booing or applauding for England,” Doorsoun recalled. She came on in the 103rd minute – and about 10 minutes later saw the English team make it 2-1: “What a goal. Really, what a goal. It’s not just frustrating, it makes you angry.”
Sara Doorsoun in a duel with Ella Toone from England
A day later at the latest, however, the disappointment turns to pride. Almost 7,000 people welcomed the national team at the Römer in Frankfurt. “You saw what we actually achieved for German women’s football. And that we made a lot of people happy with the way we performed at the European Championship.”
In 2023 there is already a chance for revenge. The World Cup is taking place in Australia and New Zealand this summer. And if things continue to go well for Sara Doorsoun at Eintracht, she could be back on the pitch there too.
Annual sports reviews at hr-iNFO
Would like more? Annual reviews with Sara Doorsoun, Jonasrutsch, Deborah Levi and other Hessian athletes will be broadcast on hr-iNFO radio this week from December 27th to 31st as a series. Every morning we look at the golden successes and bitter bankruptcies of the Hessians.
