"Knees never heal," they told Sebastian Deisler three years ago when he was 18. In the fall of 1998 no one knows whether the young soccer talent will ever make it to the professional league. But then he kicks off and...

At the same time, playing for Bayer Leverkusen every week in his first year as a professional, 19 year old Andreas Voss is trying to get onto the Federal League team. And the 15 year old goal keeper king of Villingen 08 Tolga Selcuk signs in with the Sport Club Freiburg, his first professional contract. How are the so promising young German players doing in the shark pool of the Federal League, after getting trounced at the World Championships?

Over three playing seasons Reinhild Dettmer-Finke and Sigrid Faltin observed the three talented players. They documented their days in this merciless professional business, with their friends and at home with their families. Impressions of victories and defeats, goals and injuries, ups and downs, hopes and disappointments.

Press Reviews:

Die Welt:
The directors have forcefully deflated the "dream of being a soccer star".

Süddeutsche Zeitung:
... it just goes to show how rewarding their meticulous three year study is.

Frankfurter Rundschau:
Does it take women to enlighten us about the twisted situation of young German soccer recruits?
It seems so. The quality of this report stems from the directors‘ unabashed curiosity.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:
Just let someone claim that women don’t understand a thing about soccer.

epd Medien:
...a goal to be applauded. Worshipping the physique and success above all as they become objects of speculation – all this can be studied here in detail.

More on co-director Reinhild Dettmer-Finke:
www.defi-filmproduktion.de