On the evening of December 1st, Medina Desic, soccer player for the Wrzburger Kickers, sat in a bus that was escorted by the police through the Ukrainian capital Kiev. “That was really exciting,” says the 27-year-old. The people in the streets craned their heads towards the bus with the darkened windows. After all, Real Madrid’s “royals” were in town that evening for their Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk. The Wrzburg woman was on the field for the sixth time that evening in the national jersey of Montenegro. Also in Kiev.
A meeting with the Real Stars did not take place, even their final training the day before was hermetically sealed. Nothing came of her second great wish either. Desic really wanted to celebrate her first victory in the national team jersey. The whole family, the parents, their two brothers and the aunts and uncles in Montenegro cheered on the screen. With 1: 2, the eleven pulled out of the still young Balkan state with just over 600,000 inhabitants.
Even so, the soccer player can’t help but smile about her whole face today, when asked about her 2020 year. Although she brought a severe flu from Ukraine as an involuntary souvenir, maybe she just had to pay tribute to the great hardships of the last few months she says. Traveling in Corona times can be arduous. The Ukraine took them within four days via Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey. In addition, she has to reconcile her work as a project manager in a Wrzburg company and her aspiring football career. “This year I played in stadiums in Kiev, Athens and against Germany with tens of thousands of spectators on television. That’s what everyone who plays football dreamed of as a child.”
It was an extraordinary year for the Kickers player, which somehow got its unexpected start in the summer of 2019. “Why am I not there?” Asked Desic when she accidentally discovered on Instagram that Germany is playing against Montenegro. She contacted Montenegro’s captain Marija Vukcevic on social media. Then everything started rolling. The story took its course.
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In January she was on the field for the first time in the friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Medina Desic, who was born in Erlenbach am Main, is allowed to play for her country. She has a strong connection to Montenegro, she explains: she grew up bilingual, spends her holidays there in non-Corona times, and has close and intimate contact with relatives in Montenegro.
“That’s what everyone who plays football dreamed of as a child.”
Medina Desic, Montenegrin national player with the Wrzburger Kickers–
She is now an integral part of the team. She scored her first international goal in the European Championship qualifying first leg against Ukraine (1: 3) in September. When the ball got behind the opposing defense in the 63rd minute, she was there and lifted the device over the Ukrainian goalkeeper. Typical Desic goal, right? Desic nods and grins.
Their absolute highlight was the duel against the German national team, also in September. After the 0: 10 first leg swat (without Desic), the number 97 in the world rankings did well in the 0: 3 defeat in the second leg. “That was like a victory for us.” Playing against world-class players like Dzsenifer Marozsan or Melanie Leupolz and being able to keep up was a great experience, says Desic.
Montenegro has had a women’s national football team for only eight years. Most of the players come from one of the six teams in the country’s only women’s football league. “The girls can play, they have potential,” says “Legionrin” Desic. A handful of her colleagues play, like her, outside of Montenegro. The cohesion in the team is huge. “I’ve made really good friends.”
In the shape of her life
Inspired by the national team career, Medina Desic is in the shape of her life. There is no doubt about that. In the club, too, she carried her team with strong performances and five goals in three competitive games in the autumn through the start of the season until the second Corona wave broke off. “Fitter and better than ever,” she says confidently. She has invested a lot for this, in club training and on her own. With 35 goals in the last two years, she was significantly involved in the march of SC Wrzburg-Heuchelhof (now FC Wrzburger Kickers) from the top division to the second division.
The key figure in the performance explosion was coach Gernot Haubenthal. “One of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” said Desic immediately. Haubenthal recognized the dormant potential of the strong and athletic middle-striker who is now on the radar of Bundesliga clubs. “I feel very much at home in Wrzburg,” she says, “In addition, my work is definitely number one.” Frderer Haubenthal, however, still sees room for improvement. And 2021? “It should go on like this for me,” says Desic: “Only without the corona pandemic.”
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