Felicitas Rauch interview: Into the great wide open – Germany international runs free in Courage Country

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Photo: Katie Schroeck-NC Courage Communications

Feli Rauch’s North Carolina Courage switch this year marked a move out of left field for a player who had spent her club career exclusively in Germany. Finding herself now dramatically thrust into the Olympic action is almost a seamless transition, for someone who has felt part of a show ever since her American adventure began.

Little over a week ago, it would have required all of Feli Rauch’s positive visualisation skills to picture herself sinking a penalty to leave her team on the brink of an Olympic semi-final. Named in Germany’s travelling party for Paris 2024, the 28-year-old left-back was bumped up from non-playing alternate to starter for the group game with the United States (with teammate Sarai Linder regrettably ruled out by infection).

Within 72 hours, she had played the entirety of a 4-1 loss and victory (the latter v Zambia), setting up a last-eight encounter with tournament holders Canada. From a valued supporting brief just days earlier, she would become a chief protagonist, dispatching a penalty inside the post and teeing up Germany goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to cap a virtuoso shootout display by scoring the winner.

Her contribution has been a whirlwind, though even being there at all has provided personal redemption.

“I was very close to making the team in 2016 when we actually won the Olympics in Brazil,” she explains, as we speak ahead of the competition. “But I was young and kind of dumb; I had a muscular injury and I kind of pushed through it and just made it worse.”

A semi-final rematch with the US now awaits, against the nation that this year became her first home overseas. North Carolina Courage made the two-time Frauen-Bundesliga champion their very first German player when agreeing a deal with Wolfsburg in January.

Head coach Sean Nahas declared it ‘a great day in Courage Country,’ adding how she had ‘the potential to be a cornerstone signing in the new era of the Courage.’ Such an emphatic welcome was later matched by an unexpected taste of Southern hospitality, one day in Raleigh.

“I went to one restaurant to get dinner, you got to customise your own bowl, and there was this mom in front of me, and she just paid for my bowl! I was just like, ‘You didn’t have to do this!’

“She had three kids with her and she just said, ‘It’s what you do in Raleigh.’ I’m like, ‘What?! Really?’

“It was so nice. I feel like everyone’s very open and relaxed here, which I really appreciate.”

She has been embraced and energised by a Courage group packed with global punch, now boosted further by the additions of Australians Cortnee Vine and Charlotte McLean, and 19-year-old Brazil forward Aline Gomes. Feli is joined in the Olympic tournament’s final four by two more club teammates, in goalkeeper Casey Murphy (USA) and their Brazilian number nine, reigning NWSL MVP, Kerolin.

The lights of the grandest sporting spectacle on the planet burn intensely, but she has been feeling the spotlight every game day this season – before the on-field action even begins. While debate around the supposed strongest league in the club game has intensified in recent years, the NWSL is somewhat indisputably out in front for ‘the show before the show.’

The ‘gameday fits,’ as players showcase outfit choices from quirky casual to runway spectacular, is a segment of the league’s culture that has skyrocketed since the early years.

“When I saw that, I was like, ‘Welcome to America!’” Feli laughs. “Just like everything is a big show; walking out on the pitch and having fireworks, or having the anthem before every game.”

“It’s just part of it and I love it because it brings you even more the joy and the fun part of soccer. It’s something I’m not used to, but it’s fun.”

Calling Peine in Lower Saxony home before heading to Berlin with her family at 14, like so many around the world, she had an abundance of American influence from afar growing up (“Was ist Californication?”).

“Red Hot Chili Peppers, honestly, I listened to them so often on the radio. I was playing them in my room and I had a radio, so every time they were playing, I was like, ‘Oh my God!’

“Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Shakira as well. I loved Shakira when I was young.”

Her first-time surge Stateside also brings a yearning for more concerts.

“There are so many, but they don’t work at all with our schedule! I’m so sad.

“I feel like Taylor Swift’s a big thing in America, so I should go and see Taylor Swift one day, but I actually bought a ticket for Steven Sanchez with one of my teammates, Victoria Pickett. We went to Pitbull as well because he was in town; that was a team thing.

“I love live music, so I can go to any live music.”

With her recent visitors to Raleigh including former Wolfsburg teammates Pauline Bremer and Pia-Sophie Wolter, she did find a spot in her schedule (and on the grass) to see Maggie Rogers at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre. A ticket to catch anyone from all-time, however, would only lead to one choice.

“I would choose ABBA! I’m a big ABBA fan.”

A summer now holding distinct medal hopes for her national team had begun with her country’s football fandom under a ‘Major Tom’-infused tournament trance, with the German-hosted men’s EURO 2024. Feli’s own melodic affection and fervour for a bassline is such that she is essentially a frustrated DJ at heart.

“One of the biggest parts,” she responds when asked of music’s importance in her life. “Sometimes I wish I would be working in the music industry, because I would love to do my own songs, EDM style, but learning all this stuff, all the equipment you need to do this, I’m like, ‘Ah…do I really want that?!’”

“But yeah, I love music. I’m listening to music all the time – just not now, because we’re doing this interview!

“I don’t really listen to German music; I like the old-school ‘90s r&b or hip-hop, or EDM, or indie/alternative songs. But I’m very simple as well; I love Beyoncé or Coldplay, those mainstream artists.”

Sometimes a front-row seat at a live show arrives when you least expect it, as one of her aforementioned compatriots frequently found out.

“I have a ukulele, it’s still in Germany, but when I had it in my apartment, I actually played a lot. My old roommate, Pia Wolter – she plays for Frankfurt – I would just come in the middle of the night, 11pm, and just be in her room playing ukulele!”

Her ear for a unifying beat has not yet been called upon at the play-off-chasing Courage. Luckily, they are not a team in urgent need of assistance.

“We have a very good DJ here already, Haley Hopkins, and she’s been doing it for one or two years. They love some country – Zach Bryan, I think – Drake as well, but if I will be DJ, I will mix it up with a little bit of EDM from Fred Again; I love him.

“I also love A R I Z O N A, Steven Sanchez.”

Ahead of moving to North Carolina, Feli’s second-round appearance in last season’s DFB-Pokal (German Cup) would later ensure that she had contributed to five of Wolfsburg’s ten consecutive triumphs in the competition. Signing for the Courage on a ‘two-year guaranteed contract,’ the two-time Champions League runner-up recalls how teammates waited with her for hours when she went to obtain her Social Security card, as well as the swarm of people rushing to offer her a plaster when she cut a finger one day.

The homely glow was later solidified by one international arrival in particular – a co-star in the social-media snippets of her life.

“Cinnamon is a mixed breed, she’s poodle and bolonka. Raleigh and the team felt like home from the first moment I experienced everything, but having my dog over here as well just makes it feel like home even more.

Feli and Cinnamon

“I really appreciate having her here, and it’s also very social; I joined a dog-walking group, even before I had Cinnamon over, just to walk and meet other people. Now, I can take my dog and just be even more natural, going with a group of strangers for a walk, which I really like, because I’m very open.

“I like to get to know different people, and also people outside of soccer.”

German players heading to the NWSL has traditionally been against the grain. A sprinkling of legendary names cameoed in the early years, and goalkeeper and former World Player of the Year, Nadine Angerer, would stay with Portland Thorns beyond retirement, but the league has very much been a short-term destination for her compatriots, if a destination at all.

This season saw Feli joined by Marie Müller (Portland Thorns) and Maxi Rall (Chicago Red Stars), with Saturday’s Olympic shootout heroine Ann-Katrin Berger a recent addition at NJ/NY Gotham FC. Fellow goalkeeper Almuth Schult – another of Feli’s ex-Wolfsburg colleagues – last week returned to the US with Kansas City Current.

The old Carolina Courage of the WUSA (Women’s United Soccer Association) era were 2002 champions with Germany’s all-time top scorer Birgit Prinz leading the line. Flying the flag for her homeland in Courage Country today, Feli believes that a change of mindset towards opportunities across the Atlantic is now taking effect.

“In the past, it wasn’t maybe worth it going to the US, because the league in Germany compared to other leagues was very good, but now, I feel like everyone is catching up. Of course, for the national team, they’re like, ‘Oh, why can’t there be a club in Europe? It’s way closer to bring you into camp,’ but they’re so open and they see now the good things that it brings.”

The Germany team’s togetherness in pursuit of a strong Olympic showing has been perceptible for months, Feli notes, while EURO 2025 qualification was also achieved in June. It is a group maintaining numerous members of the EURO 2022 runner-up squad, a tournament she remembers for how in flow their play felt – “We were riding on a wave from game to game.” – before a group-stage exit at last summer’s World Cup that shocked everyone.

Now under interim coach Horst Hrubesch, the kind of euphoria sparked by the weekend’s victory over Canada can be gold dust in the hunt for winning unity. When they need a pre-game cue to set pulses racing, their Eintracht Frankfurt forward and part-time photography ace provides the playlist bounce.

“It’s Laura Freigang, I would say; she’s good, good taste. We listen to a lot of English or Spanish, but there are some German, like Nina Chuba or Apache (207).”

Should Feli ever switch her ambition to a different arena, in the name of making her dance-music dream a reality, she knows which teammates would be lead collaborators.

“I would probably ask Lena Oberdorf and Sara Doorsoun; I think they both have good music taste as well. So, Sara would start with a little bit of reggaetón and Spanish vibes, and then I come in with my EDM style!

“Then we have Lena Oberdorf who finishes it off with a little bit of Afrobeats, I would say.”

Vibing off the company around her is also a daily habit in NC, with numerous candidates capable of providing the laughter and light moments arguably fundamental to any club season. At an organisation undergoing vital change in recent years, the Courage are a team bidding to build a new age of success.

The 2022 and 2023 Challenge Cup winners have been led with unwavering focus and progressive ideas by coach Sean Nahas. Feli shares her insight on working with the New Yorker this season.

“He really knows what he wants, which I like. He seems very driven, and he wants to play good football.

“You don’t want to strive for perfection, because I don’t think it’s possible to reach perfection, but he also wants to get the best out of everyone in every session and every game. Even being 28, there’s still so much potential and I don’t want to come here just to have a good time, I want to get better and I want to be successful as well.

“I think he’s the coach to bring that, because he has a very professional attitude and he understands the game so well, so I’m very happy to work with him.”

An extra aesthetic pleasure seems to come from cultured left-footed players, especially those capable of wrapping a finish into the net. While primarily deployed defensively nowadays, Feli was a scoresheet regular at Turbine Potsdam, with Wolfsburg and Germany fans also getting a glimpse into her goal touch on occasion.

She shares how she views her on-field identity today.

“I like to cross and I like to overlap and be offensive; I love to do all this stuff like a modern full-back does. Sometimes I play the left-centre-back in a three, or I rotate into the six sometimes in certain moments of the game.

“We have to organise rest defence and all this tactical stuff; sometimes I’m like ‘I wanna go – just let me off the leash!’ I love to assist more than scoring goals – obviously, scoring goals is nice, too – so I want to get more into those moments where I have a shot on goal or assist one of my teammates.

“So, yeah, I would say I still have this inside of me.”

Even in a travel-heavy season, her free time has been affording enough room to roam.

“I feel like the nature here’s very beautiful. Downtown is quite small but it has some very cute areas.

“I’m more like an adventurous, outdoor person, so I had the opportunity to go in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and also the ocean; I love surfing, so I want to go and check out the wave one day. It’s also nice to be travelling in the country itself, because for example, when we play Los Angeles (Angel City FC), we go like three days ahead, and you actually get to see a lot of these places.”

One recent international break concluded with her flying from Poland to Portland. Paris would now be the first-class ending to a trip that has already dealt her an unexpected twist.

Perfect podium finish or not, her first Olympic experience has been one more ring to place upon a gleaming phase in her life. Rest assured that results matter – the day-to-day sacrifices are made for a reason – but she now feels at peace with a retuned perspective she has taught herself to carry.

“It’s something I like to remind myself of: ‘why do I do this?’ I feel like it still gives me the fun, I really enjoy it.

“It’s always something I dreamed of when I was young and I was playing with my brother in the back yard – when I was Roberto Carlos and he was (Gianluigi) Buffon! We were picturing us in a big stadium, and now I actually get to live my dream.

“Now I’m 28, but when I was 21/22, I felt that pressure, because I was like, ‘I wanna do this and this to get there,’ but sometimes you forget to really enjoy it. This is why I like to spend so much time with my teammates, and my family around it as well, because seeing the same spark and the joy in their eyes just reminds me of why I’m doing it.

“At the end of the day, it’s just football; we’re not changing the world, it’s a game. You should be able to enjoy it, and even when you fail, it’s part of it, and you learn and you grow.”

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Published by Christian Brookes