Soccer
“I’m just happy to be fit”: Sarah Zadrazil on the year that changed her
Six weeks on crutches left Sarah Zadrazil relying on others for even the simplest things. The Bayern Munich and Austria midfielder reveals what recovery taught her about patience and football.
"Suddenly, that bubble just sort of bursts." Sarah Zadrazil describes the moment her football world fell apart, without needing many words. As a professional footballer, her daily life is defined by matches, training, travel and the next goal. You live in a world of your own, she explains in an exclusive interview – until an injury changes everything in an instant.
After tearing her ACL in September 2025, the FC Bayern midfielder and Austrian international faced a long road ahead. She had a rough idea of what to expect – other players had gone through the same thing – but she still had to come to terms with the new reality. After 348 days out, Zadrazil returned for Bayern against SC Freiburg in September 2026, before making her Austria comeback against Kosovo in October after 494 days away from international football.
She never really lost faith in her own body; the greater challenge was adapting to a daily routine that suddenly looked completely different. A serious injury doesn't just take away the ability to play football; it also alters the small, everyday things you previously took for granted.
Six weeks where even putting on socks became a struggle
Sarah Zadrazil has faced a tough recovery period
© Markus Berger/Red Bull Content Pool
The initial period was especially tough for Zadrazil. In addition to the ACL tear, she had also sustained significant meniscus damage, leaving her reliant on crutches for six weeks. What might sound like a minor detail was, in reality, a constant, disruptive presence in her daily life.
"It’s the simplest things: having to put on socks - it’s maddening. You can’t carry a cup of coffee or a glass of water. You’re simply dependent on other people." For someone accustomed to being independent, this was a major adjustment. Finding herself suddenly reliant on help at home was difficult for her. "I am a very independent person," she says. It was precisely this loss of independence that weighed on her mind during the first few weeks.
Over time, she gradually returned to her daily routine. Being able to drive again, get from point A to point B, and handle tasks without outside assistance were significant milestones for her. After that, the rehabilitation process became comparatively easier. She was in good hands, discovered new motivation, and began to build upon each individual step of progress.
"From the third or fourth week on, I was able to shift my focus to something else. I became completely immersed in the rehab process and found a new sense of motivation."
"It’s the simplest things: having to put on socks - it’s maddening. You can’t carry a cup of coffee or a glass of water. You’re simply dependent on other people."
Small goals, major progress
Sarah Zadrazil works on her skills
© Markus Berger/Red Bull Content Pool
In team sports, you are used to being part of a group. You train together, prepare for matches as a unit, and celebrate successes collectively. During rehabilitation, the focus shifts; suddenly, you are working primarily for yourself – with the ultimate goal of returning to the team.
For Zadrazil, breaking the long journey down into smaller stages proved helpful: first, being able to walk again; then, getting on a bicycle; later, running, returning to the football pitch, and finally, training with the team once more.
Being able to run again for the first time was a particularly big moment for her. "I hate cycling, but I love running", she says with a laugh. Her joy was all the greater when she was finally able to take that step.
To an outsider, such progress might seem unspectacular. For the player, however, every single step represents a great deal of hard work. "It’s not as if you just go to the physio once a day and, at some point, you’re suddenly able to walk or run again. It actually requires a great deal of sweat and hard work – doing strength training every single day, staying self-motivated, and pushing through endurance sessions, all with the ultimate goal of being able to play football again."
To track her progress, Zadrazil even kept a diary during her rehabilitation. In it, she recorded details such as her nutrition, her performance each day, and her mental state. She evaluated her own progress, allowing her to look back later and see how much she had already achieved. This provided her with structure and made it clear just how much effort she was putting into her recovery.
When your mind moves faster than your knee
Zadrazil won the Bundesliga title at her first attempt
© Marcel Lämmerhirt/Red Bull Content Pool
Patience is not necessarily a trait Zadrazil would immediately claim for herself. "I’m a very impatient person. I always want to go higher, further, faster."
During her rehabilitation, she had to learn to rein in her own ambition. Her body set the pace, as did the experts who were guiding her. At Red Bulls Athletes Performance Center in Thalgau, she could rely on their medical care and physiotherapy. Learning to trust them, and setting aside her own preconceived notions, was key.
Mental support also played a vital role. Zadrazil initially spoke with her mental coach about the injury and how she was coping with the new situation. Later, the focus shifted increasingly toward cognitive exercises. Using lights, colours, and reaction-based tasks, she was challenged mentally even though she was still limited in what she could do physically. Incorporating the ball introduced further stimuli as well.
Zadrazil managed to adopt a positive approach to her rehabilitation relatively quickly. Nevertheless, there was one phase that proved particularly demanding: the final steps leading up to her comeback.
"My mind was ready; I was participating fully in training. But there was still an integration phase and a plan for playing time - starting with just five minutes, then moving to ten."
For an ambitious professional athlete, it is not easy to feel ready yet still have to wait. The body needs time, even when the mind has long since moved on.
"You think: 'Hey, I’m ready so why the wait?' But learning to be patient and simply trusting the people around me… that, I think, was the biggest lesson for me."
Trust is built through repetition
Sarah Zadrazil takes a shot
© Marcel Lämmerhirt/Red Bull Content Pool
Returning to the pitch after a serious knee injury also means learning to trust one’s own body again. For Zadrazil, this did not happen in a single moment; it was a gradual process, with each new movement building upon the last.
First, she had to regain the ability to walk securely and put weight on the injured leg. Then came running, changing direction, and stop-and-go movements. In team training, more scenarios were gradually introduced initially without physical contact, later involving challenges, and finally reaching the point where she could once again actively engage in duels.
With every repetition, the sensation became more familiar. "Day by day, repetition by repetition, it becomes normal. Eventually, you reach a point where you’re fully back in the swing of things and you don’t even think about it anymore."
Mentally, too, she wasn’t constantly worried that something might go wrong. The key for her was successfully navigating each individual step, allowing her confidence to grow along the way. At some point, the focus shifted away from whether her knee could withstand a certain movement; it became about playing football again.
A new perspective on elite sports
Sarah Zadrazil made her way from Salzburg to the big stage of football
© Leo Rosas/Red Bull Content Pool
Returning to the pitch a few weeks ago doesn’t mean her ambition has suddenly vanished. Zadrazil wants to reclaim her role within the team and build on her past performances. At the same time, she knows that after a long layoff, she can’t simply pick up exactly where she left off.
"You can’t just assume: 'I was away, now I’m back, and I’ll immediately have the same role again.' That would be, well, a bit utopian."
She aims to reach that level once more, but she’s giving herself more time to get there. She’s also reframing her own expectations. Before the injury, she would feel disappointed whenever she wasn’t playing; the desire for more playing time and higher performance was always present. Now, she consciously takes a different approach.
"I’m just happy to be fit, and I enjoy every single minute"
Of course, her ambition still surfaces from time to time - like when she wonders why she isn’t in the starting lineup, especially as she begins to find her rhythm again. In those moments, she tries to focus on what truly matters: her knee is doing well, she feels good, and she’s able to do what she loves most.
"The pressure to perform is still there, but not to the same extent as before."
It’s a shift in perspective - one that doesn’t mean she’s any less ambitious. Instead, Zadrazil has learned to be more mindful of the journey toward her next goal rather than focusing solely on the outcome.
Back where she wants to be
The fact that she can return to the pitch for FC Bayern and the Austrian national team following a long rehabilitation period means more to Zadrazil than just the end of an injury layoff. It also serves as a reminder of the immense amount of work that goes into moments often taken for granted: a training session, a substitute appearance, a match.
Her comeback has shown her that progress is not always linear, and that not every day has to be better than the last. There are setbacks, challenging training sessions, and moments when you simply have to push yourself to keep going. Throughout this process, her family and the people who supported her during her rehabilitation at the APC were vital pillars of strength.
Ultimately, it is her love for football that carried her through this period. And the certainty of being able to step onto the pitch once again has shifted her perspective on the game.
Zadrazil remains driven to succeed. She wants to continue developing, play more, and reclaim her role. But she now understands better that not everything has to happen all at once.
Sometimes, the most significant progress isn’t the next big leap forward. Sometimes, it is simply being able to play football again.
About the author