Lena Oberdorf
Oberdorf with Germany in 2023
Personal information
Full name Lena Sophie Oberdorf[1]
Date of birth (2001-12-19) 19 December 2001[1]
Place of birth Gevelsberg, Germany
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder, Defensive Midfielder, Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 VfL Wolfsburg
Number 5
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 SGS Essen 36 (12)
2020– VfL Wolfsburg 47 (10)
International career‡
2016–2017 Germany U17 14 (3)
2017 Germany U19 6 (4)
2018 Germany U20 4 (1)
2019– Germany 44 (3)
Medal record
UEFA Women's Championship
Silver medal – second place2022 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 December 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:06, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

Lena Sophie Oberdorf (born 19 December 2001) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg and the Germany national team.[2] A versatile player who can play in various positions ranging from centre-back, left-back, defensive midfielder and central midfielder, Oberdorf is considered one of the most promising young talents in women's football.[3][4]

Early life

As a child, Oberdorf played football with her brother and sister, who all tackled each other hard. She played in, and captained, boys' football teams. She was the only girl in the German youth football league she played in, as the captain of team TSG Sprockhövel.[5]

Club career

Oberdorf started playing football at TuS Ennepetal. As a D youth, she switched to TSG Sprockhövel, where she played on boys' teams until 2018.[6] In November 2017, she signed a three-year contract with Bundesliga club SGS Essen, which is valid from the summer of 2018.[7] She made her SGS debut on 9 September 2018 in the second round of the DFB Cup against SV Henstedt-Ulzburg, where she immediately scored two goals in a 14–0 win. Almost a week later, on 15 September 2018 (matchday 1), followed in the away game against MSV Duisburg in the Bundesliga. In this game, too, she contributed two goals to the 4–0 victory.

For the 2020/21 season she moved to VfL Wolfsburg. She signed a three-year contract, the term which was extended in the summer of 2022 to 2025.[8][9]

International career

Oberdorf made her national team debut on 28 October 2014 at the age of twelve. She came on for Verena Wieder in the 41st minute of the U-15 national team's 13–0 win against Scotland. Two days later, she scored her first goal in an 8–0 win over Scotland in another friendly. In July 2016, she took part in the Nordic Cup with the U-16 national team and finished second behind Norway with the team. Also in 2016, Oberdorf was the youngest player in the 21-player squad of the U17 national team for the World Cup in Jordan. She featured in two group games against Venezuela and Cameroon and against Spain in the quarter-finals, scoring against Cameroon to make it 2–0 and against Spain to make it 2–1. In 2017 she qualified with the team for the European Championship in the Czech Republic and won it after beating Spain 3–1 in the final on penalties. After the tournament, she was voted "Golden Player" by UEFA. For the U19 national team, she played six games from September 2017 to April 2018 as part of qualifying for the 2018 European Championship, but was already part of the squad in the summer of 2018 for the U20 national team and took part with this – again as the youngest German player – at the World Cup in France.

In December 2018, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg called her up to the squad for the senior national team for the winter training camp from 14 to 21 January 2019 in Marbella.[10] She made her debut on 6 April 2019 in Solna in a 2–1 win in a friendly against Sweden, replacing Turid Knaak in the 61st minute. At 17 years and 109 days she is the eighth youngest player to make her debut for the national team. She established herself as a starter for the national team.[11]

Voss-Tecklenburg called her back to the German team for the 2019 World Cup. When she came on as a substitute in the first round match against China, she became the youngest German World Cup player at age 17 years, five months, and 20 days – a record that Birgit Prinz had previously held.

She scored her first international goal on 3 September 2019 in Lviv in the 8–0 victory in the second European Championship qualifier in group I over Ukraine with the goal to make it 4–0 in the 54th minute.

She played for Germany in the Euro 2022, including the final on 31 July. Oberdorf played in five of six games – she could not play in the other game because of the second yellow card. After the tournament, Oberdorf was recognised as the best young player and voted into the "Eleven of the Tournament" by the UEFA coaching staff.

Personal life

Oberdorf's brother Tim Oberdorf, who is five years older, is also a footballer.[12] Her sister Julia Oberdorf, three years older, plays American football.[5] Oberdorf is in a relationship with Kimberly Simmler. [13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 March 2023[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League DFB pokal Continental[lower-alpha 1] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SGS Essen 2018–19 Frauen-Bundesliga 16 9 2 2 – 18 11
2019–20 Frauen-Bundesliga 20 3 4 0 – 24 3
Total 36 12 6 2 – 42 14
VfL Wolfsburg 2019–20 Frauen-Bundesliga – – 3[lower-alpha 2] 0 3 0
2020–21 Frauen-Bundesliga 20 7 5 4 3 1 28 12
2021–22 Frauen-Bundesliga 17 2 4 1 9 0 30 3
2022–23 Frauen-Bundesliga 10 1 2 0 3 0 15 1
Total 47 10 11 5 18 1 76 16
Career total 83 22 17 7 18 1 118 30
  1. ↑ includes UEFA Women's Champions League
  2. ↑ Joined during 2020–21 season but competed in the postponed 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League

International

As of 31 October 2023[15]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Germany 2019122
202040
202170
2022121
202390
Total443
Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Oberdorf goal.
List of international goals scored by Lena Oberdorf
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
13 September 2019Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine Ukraine4–08–0UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying
28 October 2019Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece Greece5–02–0UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying
39 April 2022Bielefelder Alm, Bielefeld, Germany Portugal1–03–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification

Honours

VfL Wolfsburg

Germany

Germany U17

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 27 May 2019. p. 10. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "Lena Sophie Oberdorf – Spielerinnenprofil". DFB Datencenter (in German). Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Lena Oberdorf 2019/20 - scout report". Total Football Analysis Magazine. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Ruszkai, Ameé. "Lena Oberdorf: The jewel at the heart of German football". www.goal.com. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. 1 2 Oberdorf, Lena (15 July 2023). "Germany's Lena Oberdorf: 'Parents shouted: don't get run over by a girl'". The Guardian (Interview). Interviewed by Donald McRae.
  6. ↑ "Lena Oberdorf: Mit 16 bei der U 20-WM". DFB – Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "U17-Europameisterin wechselt zur SGS Essen – Der Frauenfussball-Bundesligist aus Essen". 6 October 2018. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Wolfsburg verpflichtet Nationalspielerin und Top-Talent Oberdorf". kicker (in German). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  9. ↑ sportschau.de. "Frauenfußball: Lena Oberdorf verlängert Vertrag mit VfL Wolfsburg". sportschau.de (in German). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Voss-Tecklenburg holt 30 Spielerinnen ins Wintertrainingslager". DFB – Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Kornat, Wiktoria (8 July 2020). "Lena Oberdorf – The Jewel in Germany's young generation's forge of Talent". Football Engine. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "Die Oberdorfs: Ein steiniger Weg für "Lehrer" Tim und große Erfolge für "Kiebitz" Lena". kicker (in German). 7 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Die Fußballerin spricht über ihre Freundin". Gala (in German). 18 July 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Single source here, if player is still active. If player has retired, remove the "Updated" template and move source to the table's title.
  15. ↑ "Lena Oberdorf". dfb.de. 18 September 2021.
  16. ↑ Sanders, Emma (31 July 2022). "England beat Germany to win first major women's trophy". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Lena Oberdorf named UEFA Women's EURO 2022 Young Player of the Tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  18. ↑ "UEFA Women's EURO 2022 Team of the Tournament announced". UEFA.com. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "Renard, Bronze and Morgan secure FIFPRO Women's 11 places". FIFA. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  20. ↑ Gladwell, Ben (21 August 2017). "2017: Lena Oberdorf". UEFA.com.
  21. ↑ "Wirtz, Katterbach und Oberdorf erhalten Fritz-Walter-Medaille in Gold". kicker (in German). 19 August 2020.
  22. ↑ "FRITZ-WALTER-MEDAILLE IN GOLD AN KÜHN, BÜHL UND ADEYEMI" (in German). German Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "FRITZ-WALTER-MEDAILLE IN GOLD AN HAVERTZ, KATTERBACH UND PAWOLLEK" (in German). German Football Association. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  24. ↑ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD TEAM 2022". IFFHS. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  25. ↑ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD TEAM 2023". IFFHS. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
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