She has come to terms with it: Lena Oberdorf, one of the best and most famous German soccer women, is mostly portrayed as fearless and unshakable. This is due to her aggressive style of play and fun-loving nature. It sounds even stranger when Oberdorf says nothing more about herself and her sport.
Before the top game of the women’s football Bundesliga between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich, which kicks off on Saturday (5.45 p.m. on ARD, Magentasport and DAZN), the national player continues the media silence. Your impending move from Wolfsburg to Munich creates circumstances that cannot be avoided. Oberdorf’s decision against Wolfsburg and for Munich raises the question: which of the two clubs plays the better role?
Oberdorf continues to play well
Actually, Oberdorf is fun for almost everyone. The other day, after a home game with Wolfsburg, who are used to success, had just been won, the defensive midfielder held her pair of shin guards in her hands during the obligatory interviews. These are specimens that are so small that it’s as if Oberdorf had been wearing them since they were C-juniors and didn’t need any more protection for their legs. “That’s enough,” said the clearer, who was happy to fight. The ironic appearance was one of the last interviews that Oberdorf recently gave in the jersey of VfL Wolfsburg and the national team.
To avoid any misunderstandings: Since Oberdorf revealed in mid-February that she was leaving VfL Wolfsburg early after four years, she has continued to play, fight and joke for him undaunted. Your personality hurts, above all, the transferring club. Wolfsburg were not represented in the main round of the Champions League this season. Another triumph in the DFB Cup is still possible. In the Bundesliga, the gap to league leaders Bayern Munich has grown to four points.
Oberdorf (left) has also been a fixture in the national team for years. : Image: AP
And then there is this sentence that Oberdorf used to justify her move from the former series champion to the current champion. “I really liked the vision of the club,” she said when signing her contract, which will bind her to the Munich team until the summer of 2028. FC Bayern has decided, as its president Herbert Hainer puts it, to replace VfL Wolfsburg as the German model team. Oberdorf plays a leading role in this.
More glamour, more metropolis, more salary: There are several good arguments that FC Bayern Munich can use in competition with VfL Wolfsburg and other elite clubs. The recent past has shown that the VfL, which was supported by the Volkswagen Group, had a better concept and more success over the years. But Wolfsburg recently had to let go of outstanding players, including the Swede Pernille Harder and the Dutch Jill Roord.
Further development in Munich
A transfer fee of around 400,000 euros, which is impressive for women’s football, is to be paid for Oberdorf. The amount will hardly help VfL Wolfsburg to complete its impending upheaval and continue to play a leading role at international level. Oberdorf has recognized the goal of further development in Munich. Why that shouldn’t have been possible in Wolfsburg at the age of 22 remains unclear.
Actually, women’s football can always use big topics and more attention. More than 20,000 spectators are expected on Saturday in Wolfsburg at the stadium where the VfL men usually play their home games. “Transfer hammer”, “changing of the guard”, “season without a title is looming”: the host club, which has celebrated seven championship titles in the last eleven years, is not at all happy about headlines like this.
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 13 Published/Updated: Michael Reinsch, Berlin Published/Updated: Recommendations: 12
The fundamentally good news that Oberdorf is not moving abroad and will remain part of German women’s football is no comfort either. The risk of losing not only the championship title and Oberdorf’s role as industry leader in the long term must feel like heavy ballast for the otherwise self-confident VfL Wolfsburg.
