Just six months after the birth of her first child, Melanie Leupolz is making her comeback in the DFB team. Her son is always there, but the 28-year-old sets clear priorities. The national coach nurtures her hope of traveling together to the World Cup in Australia.
The 64th minute of the game between Germany and Brazil was surprisingly unspectacular. There were two women on the sidelines whose replacement would have deserved more fanfare. Dzsenifer Marozsán took to the pitch at Nuremberg’s Max Morlock Stadium for her 112th and final international match. The 32,587 fans cheered when the 30-year-old came on for Lena Oberdorf, but when the score was 0:2 and there was little reason to celebrate, it quickly died down again. Melanie Leupolz’ comeback was even less pretentious. The 28-year-old came onto the field in Marozsán’s shadow – for the first time since the birth of her son six months ago.
Leupolz is following in the footsteps of her coach, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was the first mother in the DFB team in the 1990s. Daughter Dina made her grandmother shortly before the European Championships last year. In 2021 she was followed by goalkeeper Almuth Schult, who gave birth to twins and fought her way back into the national team. In the meantime, the former number one, who was unable to regain her regular place from Merle Frohms, is pregnant again.
Leupolz expected “more resistance from my body”
Leupolz set the right pace: Announcement of her pregnancy in March 2022, therefore no participation in the European Championship in the summer, birth in October 2022, comeback at her club FC Chelsea at the end of January 2023, nomination for the DFB selection at the end of March 2023, now the comeback . “I was able to train a lot during pregnancy – fortunately, that varies from woman to woman,” she said on Sky and emphasized the relevance of her situation at Chelsea: “I had very good care there, what coaches, physiotherapists and pelvic floor specialists.” However, she also confessed herself: “I expected more resistance from my body – but it did a great job.”
Her return to the DFB team should have taken place on Good Friday in the game against the Netherlands (1-0), but a broken nose in the second leg of the quarter-finals in the Champions League against the defending champions Olympique Lyon led to a brief forced break. “It was a bit of a shock, but I took it well,” she said. Already with the national team in Germany, the nose, which was bleeding profusely after an unintentional hit in the face of opponent Danielle van de Donk, was surgically fixed, a mask was fitted to her – and with which she was now able to return to the group of national players against Brazil.
Voss-Tecklenburg praises Leupolz
“We know what we have at Melli. She will go her own way,” said Voss-Tecklenburg after the game. “Now she was a bit restricted with her face mask, you noticed that in one situation or another. She couldn’t head the way she wanted.” Committed but not happier than her teammates, Leupolz was unable to decisively influence the game and avoid defeat.
That doesn’t change anything about their good chances of being at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. “She showed good quality in training,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. “Melli will now find her rhythm and play at a very high level at Chelsea.” And then, as the national coach promises: “If she stays healthy, I can say that now, she will be part of the preparation squad for the World Cup.”
Leupolz is a footballer – and also a mother
Leupolz had already announced that she wanted to fight for the regular place she had until her last international match in November 2021 against Portugal. Not just to be able to travel to Australia. “The main thing is not to be there. But if we travel, we will also travel together, then he will come with us,” said the 28-year-old on Sky. Schult had already taken her twins to the European Championships last summer and made sure that the DFB had to think about family rooms and childcare. Leupolz traveled to the current training week with her son.
According to Voss-Tecklenburg, that is exciting because there are other topics for the team to talk about. The Londoner by choice also said on Sky: “The girls were happy to see me again. But of course also to see the youngsters. It’s really exciting to be here. I already knew that from the training camp with Chelsea, the little ones there To have it with us and now here for the first time – super nice.”
Leupolz’s priorities are clear, she will “still be a footballer” at the World Cup. Full commitment, just like with the European Championship title in 2013 and the Olympic victory in 2016. And maybe that’s why her substitution went exactly right. Melanie Leupolz is a footballer, that’s what it’s all about on the field and in the DFB team. The fact that she is also a mother plays only a minor role for the duration of her assignments.