Sonja Beate Fuss (born 5 November 1978) is a German

football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. She played for the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Germany national team. She has played in the German Frauen-Bundesliga since 1992. In 2011, together with

Inka Grings Inka Grings (born 31 October 1978) is a German former international footballer who played as a striker. She played sixteen years for FCR 2001 Duisburg before joining FC Zürich Frauen. She also played for the Germany national team. Grings is ...

, she played for Swiss side,

FC Zürich Frauen FC Zürich Frauen is a women's association football club from Zürich, Switzerland. Its first team plays since the founding of the Swiss national league in 1970 in the first division. The team has won 23 national championships and has won the Cup ...

Early life

Hartford University

Fuss attended the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

located in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially ...

Playing career

Club

Fuss spent most of her career playing for SV Grün-Weiß, which was renamed

FFC Brauweiler Pulheim FFC Brauweiler Pulheim 2000 was a German women's football club based in Pulheim, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded when the women's section of Grün-Weiß Brauweiler in 2000 established its own club. The team played its last season in the R ...

in 2000. In 2004, she transferred to

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt also fielded a rather successfu ...

. In February 2005, she signed with

FFC Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German Women's association football, women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the ...

. She returned to FFC Brauweiler Pulheim after one season. At the beginning of the season 2006/07, she moved to

FCR 2001 Duisburg FCR 2001 Duisburg (full name: ''Fußballclub Rumeln 2001 Duisburg'') was a German women's football club from Duisburg. The first team played in the Bundesliga. They originate from a women's team formed in 1977 under the umbrella of FC Rumeln-Kald ...

. In July 2009, Fuss moved to the first

FC Köln FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

, the newly formed women's soccer Division 1, for the 2009/10 season. In January 2011, she returned to play for

. Her contract there was disbanded in August 2011 and she then signed on 28 August at

. On 16 March 2013, along with Inka Grings, Fuss left Zürich for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club, the

, in May 2013. She was waived by the Red Stars in September 2013.

International

Fuss played in her first international match in 1996 against the Netherlands. She scored her first international goal on 15 November 2003 against Portugal. Fuss was a European champion in 1997, 2005 and 2009 and world champion in 2003 and 2007. In 2004, she was a member of the bronze medal-winning German squad at the Olympic Games in Athens.

Honors and awards

National * World Champion in 2003 and 2007 * European champion in 1997, 2005 and 2009 * Olympic bronze medal in 2004 Club football * German Champion 1997 * Swiss Champion 2011/12, 2012/13 * Swiss Cupsiegerin 2012, 2013 * DFB Cup winner in 1997, 2005 and 2009 * UEFA Women's Cup winner in 2005 and 2009

References

External links

DFB profile

Chicago Red Stars player profile

1978 births Living people German women's footballers German expatriate women's footballers Germany women's international footballers 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players FCR 2001 Duisburg players FSV Frankfurt (women) players Sportspeople from Bonn Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Hartford Hawks women's soccer players Chicago Red Stars players National Women's Soccer League players German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate women's footballers in Switzerland Olympic footballers of Germany UEFA Women's Championship-winning players FC Zürich Frauen players Swiss Women's Super League players Women's association football defenders Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia German expatriate sportspeople in the United States {{Germany-women-footy-bio-stub Association football defenders Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Germany women's youth international footballers