Sarai Linder

Sarai Linder (born 26 October 1999) is a German footballer who plays as a defender for TSG Hoffenheim and for the Germany national team.

Club career
Born in Sinsheim, Linder started playing football in the Sinsheimer district club SV Hilsbach and switched to the youth department of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in 2010, to which she belonged until 2016 and in her last season in the southern season of the B-Junior Bundesliga played league games.

For the 2015–16 season, she was promoted to the second team, for which she scored five goals in 15 league games in the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga South. She crowned her senior debut on 30 August 2015 (1st matchday) in a 4–1 win in the home game against 1. FFC Frankfurt II with her first goal, scoring the final score in the 81st minute. The end of the season was celebrated in first place. She made her Bundesliga debut unexpectedly on 30 October 2016 (matchday 6) in a 1–0 away win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen with a substitution in the 88th minute for Anne Fühner. From 2017 to 2020, belonging to the first team, she played in a further 46 league games, in which she scored two goals.

She then spent a year at the University of Central Florida and was welcomed as one of five new additions to the Knights, the varsity athletic team. In the 2020 season, she played seven games from 14 February to 11 April.

Returning to Germany, she will play again for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga from the 2021–22 season.

International career
Within five years, Linder went through the youth national teams from the age group U15 to U19 before she made her debut for the U20 national team on 18 October 2017 in a 2–0 defeat friendly against Serbia.

With the U17 national team, she took part in the European Championship, which was held in Belarus from 4 to 16 May 2016, played the first and third games, the semi-finals, which Germany won 4–3 against England, and the 3–2 finals won on penalties against Spain.

At the U17 World Cup that same year, she played the first two matches and the quarter-finals, which they lost 2–1 to Spain.

In 2022 Linder was called up to the senior Germany national team.

Honours
TSG Hoffenheim
 * 2. Frauen-Bundesliga Süd: 2016

Germany U17
 * UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship 2016

Germany
 * UEFA Women's Nations League third place: 2023–24