Dzsenifer Marozsán Bows Out Of International Game As One Of The Greats

Lyon midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsán will tomorrow play her 112th and final match for the German national side against Brazil in front of over 30,000 fans in Nuremburg after making the decision to retire from the international game to prolong her career.

The elegant, creative playmaker is almost universally acknowledged by players and pundits alike as one of the true greats of the women’s game. Her effortless style winning matches and plaudits in equal measure during a twelve-and-a-half year international career.

Marozsán missed out on playing for Germany at the UEFA Women’s Euro in England last summer after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, an injury which has ultimately led to her decision to bow out of international football.

She admitted, “due to the serious injury, my knee is unfortunately not what it used to be. Unfortunately I have to admit that. Even if I complete all the units and games for my club, I have to do a lot to make this possible. It tweaks every now and then and it’s half as much fun as before.”

German National Team Head Coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg reluctantly accepted losing the former national team captain just three months before the start of the Women’s World Cup. “I have the greatest respect for Dzsenifer Marozsán’s decision. She is a great personality and an outstanding footballer who has done an incredible amount for German football.”

A week short of her 31st birthday and with her contract at Olympique Lyonnais set to expire in June, Marozsán dismissed suggestions that she could be about to retire from the game completely. “I hope it’s still too early to think about it. As far as health goes, I want to keep playing for as long as possible. I can’t imagine life without football, so I think I’ll stay in this business.”

Asked whether her future lay at Lyon, where she has played for the past seven seasons, Marozsán refused to commit herself. “Everything is still open. There are talks with Lyon and other clubs, I’ll keep that open until the end,” adding she may eventually settle down in any of the countries she has lived. “There are many places where I feel very comfortable. In Germany, in France, in Hungary and in the United States. The choice is great.”

Marozsán was born in Budapest to Hungarian parents and may never have played in a major international tournament but for her father. János Marozsán, a professional player himself who represented Hungary four times, was transfered to 1. FC Saarbrüken in western Germany when his daughter was aged four. There, the young Dzsenifer first played for a local boy’s team before becoming the youngest play to appear in the Bundesliga aged just 14 years and seven months.

Such was Marozsàn’s prodigious talent, the German Football Association (DFB) made sure her entire family was naturalized so she could eventually represent their women’s national team. She did not have to wait long, making the first of over 100 appearances for Germany aged 18 against Australia in October 2010, three months after helping Germany win the u20 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Having missed out on a place in the squad for the senior Women’s World Cup played in Germany a year later with a knee injury, the then 21-year-old Marozsán established herself as the integral cog in a youthful German side which won the UEFA Women’s Euro in 2013. After being dropped for the quarer-final, Marozsán responded by scoring the decisive early goal in the semi-final against hosts Sweden which won the game, a match she admitted “was very important to me.”

Three years later, Marozsán was once more the Swedes’ nemesis in the 2016 Olympic Football Final. Playing in the legendary Estádio Maracaña in Rio de Janeiro, Marozsán scored a typically picturesque first goal before elicting the second, an own goal, with a free kick which rebounded off the post.

Looking back on that night, Marozsán said “the gold medal at the Olympics also went like a picture book for me. There are moments that stay in my heart forever and for which I am very grateful.” Ahead of tomorrow’s farewell appearance against the South American champions, Marozsán represented Germany on 111 occasions, scoring 33 goals. Twice voted the world’s best playmaker of the year by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), in 2021 she was elected as the IFFHS’ best European player of the past decade.

Speaking last month, the Sporting Director of the German National Teams, Joti Chatzialexiou paid this glowing tribute to her. “Dzsenifer Marozsán is one of the most brilliant footballers to have played for Germany. We will not only miss her as a personality on and off the field, but also as a technically excellently trained and intuitive footballer, with a special ball skill and a unique understanding of the game. In the national team, she shaped an era crowned by major titles for Germany. I wish her all the best for her future career and life.”

When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, Marozsán said in an interview with the DFB, “I would recommend her to do the same thing again – take everything with you, enjoy every effort, give one thousand percent and always wear the national team jersey with a lot of heart and passion. I’ve always done that over the years.”