Laura Freilang: The ambassador of German women's football

So far, Lucas Freilang had a head start on his sister when it came to entering the big football stages.

He was the first child at the 2014 World Cup final and stepped onto the lawn of the Maracanã Stadium holding the hand of German captain Philipp Lahm.

But sister Laura is slowly catching up.

This Sunday (4:00 p.m. on ARD) she will enter the largest stage that club women's football has to offer in this country, facing the most important game of her career so far.

With the Frankfurt Eintracht, the attacker contests the DFB Cup final against VfL Wolfsburg in Cologne.

And one thing is clear: In the dressing room of the double winner, Laura will be talked about before kick-off. About the fact that you should prevent her from picking up the pace with her expansive steps and coming to the end of the goal. The 23-year-old is the biggest weapon in the Frankfurt offensive game. 17 goals on the previous 22 Bundesliga match days illustrate their course and their accuracy in 2020/21, especially since Eintracht, only ranked sixth, really does not have a high-flyer team that gives their strikers scoring chances in a row.

Laura Freilang has been running for a few months - she seems to be working out almost everything.

It would not be surprising if, in retrospect, it was said that Laura Freilang's career in 2020/21 entered new spheres.

“There are not often such players.

A great personality matures there, ”says Niko Arnautis, head coach of the SGE and an important sponsor of Laura Freilang for years.

The "chaotic and spoiled manner" creates a good atmosphere, says Eintracht goalkeeper Merle Frohms.

"It's very funny with her."

"Made a big step"

In terms of sport, Laura Freilang made it to the German national team this year and made excellent use of her chances with seven goals in her first six international matches. Among them was a hat trick in the European Championship qualification within just 24 minutes - against second-class Greek women. At least as closely as her development to a striker of stature is followed in the scene, as her profile is sharpened off the field.

Quite a few believe that one of the faces of German women's football is growing up.

One who could be of great help to her sport, which is still struggling for recognition and visibility, in this endeavor.

Which is due to Laura Freilang's eloquent, fearless, authentic and personable nature.

“She deserves the attention, and she's smart enough to put it all into perspective,” says Arnautis.

"She can become one of the ambassadors for women's football in Germany."

Arnautis has already observed Laura Freilang in Holstein youth selections - she was born in Kiel.

And she didn't lose sight of it in Mainz, she spent most of her youth in Oppenheim.

At 18, Laura Freilang went to Penn State University to combine soccer and college.

"There I made a big step in terms of athleticism and mentality," says the 1.72 meter tall athlete who went through all of the DFB junior selections.

After the U-20 World Cup in summer 2018, she accepted Arnautis' invitation to take part as a guest player in the season preparation of 1. FFC Frankfurt.

Shortly afterwards, Laura Freilang knew that she wanted to stay in order to become a Bundesliga player in the young Frankfurt team.

Regardless of the fact that half of her closet was still in her dorm in Pennsylvania.

"That definitely gives hope"

Last summer, her picture was the first female soccer player to appear on the cover of the Eintracht club magazine. The sports science student's contract runs until mid-2023. The year before, the next big tournament, the European Championships in England, will take place. There are some indications that the national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg can use the Eintracht striker as a “boxing player”, as she says. Laura Freilang recently passed her first matriculation examination in the DFB-Elf because she not only scored against weaker opponents, but also scored a goal in a duel with the Dutch women. The next big step would be if they shot Eintracht to the cup coup against Wolfsburg.

“We can identify with the underdog role very well,” says Freilang, who feels “huge anticipation and motivation” from all team mates. A week ago SGE and VfL met in the league, the Lower Saxons prevailed 3-2 on Main. Laura Freilang scored a goal that combined many of her strengths at the same time into a brilliant whole: running strength, assertiveness, tackling strength, instinct and finishing quality.

In the first half, Eintracht was still enormously inferior to the top team from Wolfsburg. “The Wolfsburg women have a lot of quality, individually and as a team. At first we didn't understand what was happening on the pitch. In the cup final, we shouldn't need 45 minutes again, but should be fully there from the start and carry out our actions, ”says Laura Freilang. “We've played against Wolfsburg many times and we've never been so close. That definitely gives hope. ”In the league comparison with VfL, her Frankfurt striker Lara Prasnikar also scored well. That should give the attacking duo a boost before the final. Because many chances, it is to be expected, they will not get against the Wolfsburg Cup power - most recently six cup triumphs in a row.