Treaty resolved: Jena loses striker after bad luck!

Treaty resolved: Jena loses striker after bad luck!

Jena, Deutschland - The football world is once again characterized by injury -related changes, as the example of Leonie Kreil shows. The striker resolved her contract at FC Carl Zeiss Jena on July 16, 2025. Kreil had only come back to Jena in winter, but a severe calf joint injury had only three missions. Previously, the 27-year-old kicked over several stations, including at the UPS Jena, where she ran in 19 Bundesliga games and was able to gain a lot of experience at SC Sand before relegating to the 2nd Bundesliga. Despite these setbacks, the hope remains that Kreil can hope for soon, while the club will take care of the return of young talents like Jalysa-Jill Stechemesser.

Stechemesser, which made her debut for Jena in February 2023, also has a turbulent injury time. With two cruciate ligament tears, their climb in the team was severely affected, but now the FCC wants to bring them back into the competition through the U20. These processes are highlighting a structural problem in women's football: cruciate ligament injuries have now reached epidemic dimensions. Over 30 players alone will miss this year's Women's World Championship due to this injury, and it affects well-known actors such as Beth Mead and Carolin Simon. The development is alarming because basketball players are affected by it about six times more often than their male colleagues.

cruciate ligament injuries in football

But why are women so much more susceptible to cruciate ligament tears? According to the German Society for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery (DGOU), anatomical differences, such as a wider pool and a tendency to position, play an important role. Hormonal factors that are reflected in the menstrual cycle can also affect performance and susceptibility to injury. In order to counteract this, the Swiss national team has already switched to cycle -oriented training to avoid injuries and increase performance.

• cruciate ligament injuries often occur in non-contact situations, such as when landing jumps.
• dynamic X-leg positions are often the trigger for these injuries.
• The application of specific prevention programs has demonstrably reduced the risk of injury.

In this special case, the fate of Leonie Kreil and other athletes affected by injuries is an example of the challenges that modern athlete life brings. Hopefully such fates can be avoided in the future with a clear focus on prevention and better medical care.