The current Germany womens side are under pressure to succeed going into the 2025 UEFA European Championships.
After the failure to get beyond the group stage at the World Cup two years ago, the most successful European nation in history need a strong run in Switzerland.
And now they will have to do so without one of the most promising young talents in the game as Lena Oberdorf has been ruled out of the tournament.
Lena Oberdorf: Why isn't she a part of Germany's squad?
Oberdorf is still recovering from her cruciate ligament injury suffered in 2024 and after a recent assessment, Christian Wck has decided against calling her up.
She has not played a game for Bayern Munich this season because of the injury.
However, a recent call-up to the Nations League squad gave some fans hope she may play a part in this summer's tournament.
But the timing did not pan out for the star, whose next opportunity at a major tournament will now be the 2027 World Cup.
Lena Oberdorf: Her career so far
Clearly a top talent from a young age, Oberdorf was the only girl in the youth league she played in, captaining her TSG Sprockhovel side.
She also comes from a football family, with brother Tim a regular for 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf.
As she later revealed in an interview before the World Cup, that often made her the target of some rough challenges from the boys on opposing teams.
It would make her a better player in the long run. Oberdorf, who is 24th on FourFourTwo's best players right now list, signed for SGS Essen in November 2017, with her first senior season coming a year later.
Playing as an attacking midfielder, she scored nine goals in her first campaign. After two seasons with Essen, Oberdorf moved to German domestic heavyweights VfL Wolfsburg.
She developed positionally during her time with the She-wolves, featuring in defence when required.
By this point, she was already a regular in the German national side having broken into the team a few months before the 2019 World Cup in France.
When appearing as a substitute against China in the group stage, Oberdorf became the youngest German World Cup player in history, at the age of 17 years, five months and 20 days.
But it was Euro 2022 where she truly shone as a key player. Oberdorf featured in five of Germanys six games during their run to the final, only missing one for suspension.
She claimed the Young Player of the Tournament award and was also named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. In 2024, Bayern Munich triggered a release clause in Oberdorfs contract, making her the most expensive female German footballer in history.
This is despite the fact she was unavailable at the time, out with a severe cruciate ligament injury Oberdorf another victim of the ACL epidemic in the womens game.
This also caused her to miss the 2024 Olympics in France last summer. Oberdorf would have been looking to make up for lost time by returning for the European Championships.
However, needing further time to recover, her comeback was put on hold, until the start of 2025/26.
Her German teammates will now have to try and reclaim the title without the talented Bayern star.
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