Lara Dickenmann

Lara Joy Dickenmann (born 27 November 1985) is a Swiss former footballer who played as a midfielder or full-back. She played for German club VfL Wolfsburg and French club Olympique Lyonnais. She is a versatile footballer who can play as a midfielder or a full-back on either side of the field. She formerly played at the college level for the Ohio State University, breaking many records and earning several player honors. In 2008, Dickenmann left the university and joined D1 Féminine club Lyon.

Dickenmann was also a member of the Switzerland women's national football team. She starred for the national team at youth level and made her senior debut in August 2002 at the age of 16 against France, scoring in a 2–1 defeat.

Career

Youth career Dickenmann was born in the town of Kriens located in the Canton of Lucerne. She began her career with the boys' section of local outfit SC Kriens spending seven years at the club. In 2000, she joined DFC Sursee. Dickenmann gained notice for her performance with the national team's youth sides, helping the Swiss U-19 team reach the 2002 and 2004 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and winning three league championships and two league cups with Sursee. For her efforts during the 2003–04 season, Dickenmann was named the Swiss Player of the Year.

Collegiate career In 2004, Dickenmann decided to move to the United States of America to play college soccer at the Ohio State University. In her freshman season, she was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, as well as the nation's Freshman of the Year by numerous publications. She was also deemed a second-team All-American by the NSCAA. Dickenmann established single-season records for OSU in goals scored (13) and assisted on (12) helping Ohio State reach the Elite 8 in the NCAA national tournament.

In her sophomore season, due to earning call ups to the Swiss national team, Dickenmann missed significant playing time. However, she still earned all-Big Ten honors after being selected to the second team. Her junior season was more spectacular as she was named Ohio State's Most Valuable Player and was also selected as a first-team All-American by the NSCAA. On 14 December 2008, Dickenmann graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in international business. She departed the university the career leader in assists (32), second in total points (89), and seventh in goals scored (27). Dickenmann was also a three-time Big Ten Academic All-American and a four-time Ohio State Scholar Athlete. She was the first Ohio State women's soccer player to earn an appearance on the Hermann Trophy watch list. The trophy is awarded to the top soccer player in the country.

Professional career During the off-seasons when Dickenmann was in college, in an effort to continue playing high level soccer and still maintain her college eligibility, she starred with the New Jersey Wildcats in 2006, and for Jersey Sky Blue in 2007. With Jersey Sky Blue, Dickenmann was named the W-League Most Valuable Player for the 2007 W-League season. Following her senior season at Ohio State, she played half a season with FC Zürich Frauen, the women's section of popular Swiss club FC Zürich, helping the team win the 2008–09 league championship. Prior to graduating, it was announced that Dickenmann would be joining Division 1 Féminine club Olympique Lyonnais in 2009. Dickenmann joined the club mid-season during the 2008–09 season and was limited to only four appearances, though she did score two goals. Lyon were later declared champions of the league winning by a very wide margin. For the 2009–10 season, Dickenmann was named a starter and began the season on a positive note scoring a goal in Lyon's 6–0 win over Montigny-le-Bretonneux. On 29 November 2009, she scored her first professional hat trick in a 9–0 victory over ESOF Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon.

In April 2015 Dickenmann agreed a transfer to VfL Wolfsburg.

International career Dickenmann starred with the Swiss women's under-19 team in both the 2002 and 2004 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship. In both editions, the Swiss failed to get out of the group stage. On 14 August 2002, at the age 16, she made her international debut in a match against France. Switzerland lost the match 2–1, but Dickenmann was responsible for the Swiss's only goal scoring it in the 33rd minute. Since her debut, Dickenmann has been a regular in the squad appearing in teams that attempted to qualify for UEFA Women's Euro 2005, the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, and UEFA Women's Euro 2009; all of which the Swiss have failed to qualify for. Dickenman and Switzerland also missed out on qualification for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. She scored her first goal of the qualification process in a 2–0 victory over the Republic of Ireland converting a penalty.

+Goals scored for the Swiss WNT in official competitionsCompetition Stage Date Location Opponent Goals Result Overall 2007 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2006–03–25 Biel 2 2–0 2 2009 UEFA Euro Qualifiers 2008–05–08 Oberdorf 2 2–0 22011 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2009–09–19 Wohlen 1 2–0 4 2010–03–27 Wohlen 1 6–0 2010–06–23 Karagandy 2 4–22013 UEFA Euro Qualifiers 2011–11–24 Aarau 3 8–1 5 2012–03–31 Aarau 1 5–0 2012–09–15 Istanbul 1 3–12015 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2013–09–21 Nyon 1 9–0 10 2013–09–26 Reykjavík 1 2–0 2014–02–12 Petach-Tikva 1 5–0 2014–04–05 Zug 3 11–0 2014–04–10 Aarau 1 1–1 2014–05–08 Nyon 1 3–0 2014–06–19 Inđija 2 7–02017 UEFA Euro Qualifiers 2015–10–27 Biel/Bienne 1 4–04 2015–11–27 Lurgan 1 8–1 2016–09–15 Gori 1 3–0 First Stage 2017–07–22 Doetinchem 1 2–12019 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2017–09–15 Elbasan 1 4–1 5 2017–09–19 Biel/Bienne 1 2–1 2018–04–05 Schaffhausen 1 1–0 2018–06–12 Minsk 2 5–0

Career statistics

Club

Statistics accurate as of match played 13 September 2015

International

(Correct as of 18 May 2012)

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 14 August 2002 1–1 2–1 Friendly 2. 22 April 2006 Biel, Switzerland 1–0 2–0 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 3. 2–0 4. 8 May 2008 Oberdorf, Switzerland 1–0 2–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying 5. 2–0 6. 19 September 2009 Wohlen, Switzerland 2–0 2–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 7. 24 February 2010 Larnaca, Cyprus 1–0 1–2 2010 Cyprus Women's Cup 8. 1 March 2010 Nicosia, Cyprus 1–0 2–2 9. 2–2 10. 27 March 2010 Wohlen, Switzerland 5–0 6–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 11. 23 June 2010 Karagandy, Kazakhstan 2–1 4–2 12. 3–2 13. 9 March 2011 Larnaca, Cyprus 1–0 2–1 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup 14. 24 November 2011 Aarau, Switzerland 1–0 8–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying 15. 5–1 16. 8–1 17. 31 March 2012 5–0 5–0 18. 22 August 2012 Altach, Austria 2–0 2–1 Friendly 19. 15 September 2012 Istanbul, Turkey 1–0 3–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying 20. 11 March 2013 Larnaca, Cyprus 2–2 3–2 2013 Cyprus Women's Cup 21. 21 September 2013 Nyon, Switzerland 3–0 9–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 22. 26 September 2013 Reykjavík, Iceland 2–0 2–0 23. 12 February 2014 Petah Tikva, Israel 4–0 5–0 24. 5 March 2014 Paralimni, Cyprus 1–0 1–1 2014 Cyprus Women's Cup 25. 10 March 2014 1–0 1–2 26. 5 April 2014 Zug, Switzerland 2–0 11–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 27. 7–0 28. 11–0 29. 10 April 2014 Aarau, Switzerland 1–1 1–1 30. 8 May 2014 Nyon, Switzerland 3–0 3–0 31. 19 June 2014 Inđija, Serbia 2–0 7–0 32. 4–0 33. 4 March 2015 Lagos, Portugal 1–0 2–0 2015 Algarve Cup 34. 2–0 35. 27 October 2015 Biel/Bienne, Switzerland 3–0 4–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying 36. 27 November 2015 Lurgan, Northern Ireland 8–1 8–1 37. 15 September 2016 Gori, Georgia 3–0 3–0 38. 8 March 2017 Larnaca, Cyprus 1–0 1–0 2017 Cyprus Women's Cup 39. 10 April 2017 Skien, Norway 1–1 1–2 Friendly 40. 22 July 2017 Doetinchem, Netherlands 1–1 2–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2017 41. 15 September 2017 Elbasan, Albania 4–0 4–1 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 42. 19 September 2017 Biel/Bienne, Switzerland 2–1 2–1 43. 5 April 2018 Schaffhausen, Switzerland 1–0 1–0 44. 12 June 2018 Minsk, Belarus 2–0 5–0 45. 4–0 46. 30 August 2018 Paisley, Scotland 1–2 1–2

Honours

Club

Zürich Frauen Nationalliga A: Winner 2008–09

Lyon Division 1 Féminine: Winner 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 Coupe de France Féminine: Winner 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League: Winner 2010–11, 2011–12

VfL Wolfsburg Bundesliga: Winner 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 DFB-Pokal: Winner 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21

Personal

She is openly lesbian and married with her former teammate Anna Blässe.