At the age of 27, Ann-Katrin Berger had won titles and played in major cup finals across Europe. But after the German goalkeeper found a lump on her neck, she knew she had to fight a battle bigger than any on the pitch.
Image: Getty Images/K. Robertson
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For many footballers, a loss of form, the strange demands of a new coach or a failed transfer request are among the biggest career obstacles they'll face. But, in November 2017, Ann-Katrin Berger's fight moved away from the stadiums and training pitches and in to hospital wards and operating tables.
Just six months after playing in an English Women's FA Cup final at Wembley in front of over 35,000 fans for Birmingham City, the German goalkeeper felt a lump on her neck, which was later diagnosed as thyroid cancer.
"It was a shock," she told DW at the sprawling training complex of her new club Chelsea. "As a footballer you don’t think about it. You have to live a healthy life, you do sport every day so it was quite a shock, it’s not usual in my family.
"But I’m a person who has to get on with things as quick as possible. So for me, after diagnosis, it was: 'What should I do now?’ What do I have to do now?"
Drawing on mental strength
The answer, initially was a treatment program that involved a serious operation in December. But Berger, now 28, drew strength from her profession despite being apart from her family in the south west of Germany.
"For me it was not a solution to be ill," she says. "As a sportsperson you have to fight everyday. Even for my position I have to fight every training session to be on the pitch on a Sunday. Goalkeepers have a bad reputation, I don’t know why, as crazy people. I wouldn’t say I am (crazy) but I think the mentality of a goalkeeper helped me through that as well."
Ann-Katrin Berger playing for Birmingham CityImage: picture-alliance/empics/N. Potts
Berger says that she was only prepared to countenance the worst scenario "if it actually happens" and that getting back to the sport she has loved since she can remember was the driving force behind a rapid recovery.
Just 61 days after her operation and after "starting again from zero" in fitness terms, Berger was back between the sticks for Birmingham and keeping a clean sheet in her side's fourth round FA Cup win over Reading. Despite a desire to play down her remarkable recovery and speak to the virtues of teamwork, professionalism and mentality, Berger does admit that was a memorable moment.
"For me this occasion was a normal thing to do because I had done it step-by-step and I had something to fight for," she says. "We won the game with a clean sheet and it was a good team effort. I think on that day they actually played for me, that was a good feeling."
Hall of Fame: Germany's Top XI women
The German Football Museum have chosen their top Germany XI from the women's game. The list includes some household names including Steffi Jones, Silvia Neid and the next Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.
Image: Reuters
Birgit Prinz
Birgit Prinz has played more matches (214) and scored more goals (128) for Germany than any other player. Prinz is a two-time World Cup winner and three-time World Player of the Year. Prinz played her club football for FSV Frankfurt and FFC Frankfurt in Germany as well as the Carolina Courage in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional women's league in the US.
Image: Reuters
Steffi Jones
A defender, Steffi Jones earned 111 caps for the national team between 1993 and 2007, helping her country win the 2003 Women's World Cup and three consecutive European Championships. Jones later worked as a football administrator, in charge of organising the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany. In 2016 she took over from Silvia Neid as head coach of Germany, but was sacked in early 2018.
Image: Imago/Pressefoto Baumann
Doris Fitschen
At the 1989 European Competition for Women's Football, Fitschen was an important part of the team who claimed West Germany's first major trophy. UEFA named her the tournament's Golden Player. Following her retirement Fitschen received a special achievement award from UEFA, for her outstanding contribution to women's football.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
Silke Rottenberg
Rottenberg is the former goalkeeper who announced her retirement from the national team on 27 May 2008. In 1998 she was chosen as the German Female Footballer of the Year. Since retiring, Rottenberg has worked as a goalkeeping coach for Germany's youth teams and as a TV pundit.
Image: Getty Images
Nia Künzer
Her Golden Goal in the final match against Sweden made Germany the winner of the 2003 World Cup and was to become the first ever women's "Goal of the Year" in the history of German football, but a fourth cruciate ligament injury forced her to retire from international football in 2006. Künzer now works for German public television as a women's football expert.
Image: picture-alliance/Baumann/J. Hahn
Silvia Neid
Silvia Neid was one of the most successful players in German women's football history, having won seven national championships and six German Cups. Between 2005 and 2016, Neid served as the head coach of the women's national team. She was the FIFA World Women's Coach of the Year in 2010, 2013 and 2016.
Bettina Wiegmann scored 51 goals in 154 games for the German national team between 1989 and 2003. In 1997 she was selected German Female Footballer of the Year. She competed in four World Cups: China 1991, Sweden 1995, USA 1999 and USA 2003; and two Olympics: Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000.
Image: Getty Images/J. Schüler
Renate Lingor
Renate Lingor won 149 caps between 1995 and 2008 and collected plenty of silverware during her glittering career. She is a two-time World Cup winner, a three-time European Championship winner and collected three consecutive bronze medals at the Olympics, in Sydney, Athens and Beijing.
Image: picture-alliance/Huebner/Scheuring
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is considered one of the most successful German women's soccer players, having won seven national titles and six trophies with the national team. She was appointed head coach of the German women's national team last year her first major tournament is the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Ena
Inka Grings
Inka Grings is the second all-time leading goalscorer in Germany's top division, the women's Bundesliga, with 195 goals, and claimed the league's top-scorer award for a record six seasons. Playing for Germany, she was also the top scorer at two European Championships. Grings was named German Female Footballer of the Year in 1999, 2009 and 2010.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Heidi Mohr
Heidi Mohr played 104 times for Germany between 1986 and 1996. She scored eight times at European Championships and 10 times at World Cups. With 83 career goals she was Germany's all-time top scorer until Birgit Prinz overtook her in 2005. She won the European Championship with Germany in 1989, 1991, 1995.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts
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Big move to champions
More good feelings were soon to follow as a string of impressive performances from Berger helped Birmingham to a surprise fourth-place finish in the Women's Super League, the top flight of English football.
The accolades were quick to follow.
At the end of last season, she was named in the PFA Team of the Year. Then, just 12 months after her diagnosis, she earned a first call up to the Germany squad. In January, she joined reigning champions Chelsea, keeping another clean sheet on her home debut in another big FA Cup win, this time against Arsenal.
Ann-Katrin Berger kept a clean sheet on her Chelsea home debut against ArsenalImage: Imago/Zuma
Competition for places, both domestically and internationally, is fierce for the former Paris Saint-Germain and Turbine Potsdam shot stopper but it's clear that Berger has the belief that she can force her way in to Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's Germany squad for the upcoming World Cup in France.
"It would be a huge achievement even if I were just to go to the World Cup. Obviously if you’re invited you want to play as well but we have a really good goalkeeper, so it’s hard. But nothing is impossible."
Given Berger's story, it's hard to disagree with that.
