After Chelsea’s Melanie Leupolz was pregnant and future Lyon colleague Dzsenifer Marozsan was out of action for the European Championship due to a cruciate ligament rupture, Däbritz is the only foreign professional in Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team alongside Chelsea’s reserve goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. And next to the Wolfsburg women Alexandra Popp and Svenja Huth one of three captains.
The national coach appreciates Däbritz beyond all measure. “We need her. She will be a central figure in our game, one of the most important axis players,” says Voss-Tecklenburg about the 86-time international with the strong left foot, the distinctive overview and the robust physique.
The title is the dream
“We have a great team structure here with the experienced players and the younger ones coming up,” said Däbritz before the first game next Friday against Denmark. “I think that when Germany go to a European Championship, you can always count on us. Many teams have the quality to play for the title. Of course, that’s our dream too, and we’ll do everything we can to achieve it.”
Born in Amberg, she did not lose her light Upper Palatinate dialect with the rolling R in Paris either. The former FC Bayern and SC Freiburg player has long been able to communicate well in French, even if she doesn’t speak it “perfectly”. Much more has become of her former school English. She’s looking for a “completely new challenge” and wants to take the “next step,” says Däbritz.
She will probably miss Messi and Mbappé less in Paris than her beloved Montmartre – and the “outstanding fan culture” at PSG: “The Champions League games in the Prinzenpark with the Ultras in the curve, that’s an intoxicating atmosphere if you only go out to warm up.”