Learn Hardcore German: In ihrem Kommentar lobt eine Gegnerin die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld in unserer Mannschaft. - In her comment a female opponent praises the mixture of courage and patience in our team.

The finite verb must be in second position.
The first position can be almost anything: subject, time expression, prepositional phrase, object, etc.

In the sentence:

In ihrem Kommentar lobt eine Gegnerin die Mischung …

In ihrem Kommentar = element in first position
lobt = finite verb in second position
eine Gegnerin = subject (now placed after the verb)

So the structure is:

[Prepositional phrase] In ihrem Kommentar
[Verb] lobt
[Subject] eine Gegnerin
[Object] die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld in unserer Mannschaft

You could also say:

Eine Gegnerin lobt in ihrem Kommentar die Mischung …

This is also correct and just emphasizes the subject (eine Gegnerin) a bit more. The original version puts a little emphasis on the context (“In her comment…”).

Why is it in ihrem Kommentar and not in ihr Kommentar or in ihren Kommentar?

This is about case and adjective/pronoun endings.

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative:
- Dative = location (where?)
- Accusative = direction (where to?)
Here it’s clearly location: in her comment (not into her comment), so we need the dative.
Kommentar is:
- masculine
- singular

So in + dative masculine singular of ihr Kommentar becomes:

Definite article: in dem Kommentar
With ihr- as a possessive: in ihrem Kommentar

Forms you suggested:

in ihr Kommentar → wrong: no case ending
in ihren Kommentar → accusative masculine singular (would mean into her comment or suggest movement, which doesn’t fit here)

So in ihrem Kommentar = in her comment (dative masculine).

What does Gegnerin mean exactly, and why is it not just Gegner?

Gegner = opponent (male or generic)
Gegnerin = female opponent

German often marks female persons with the ending -in:

der Lehrer → die Lehrerin (teacher)
der Student → die Studentin (student)
der Gegner → die Gegnerin (opponent)

In the sentence: > eine Gegnerin

eine shows it’s feminine singular
The form Gegnerin makes it explicitly a female opponent.

If the gender were unknown or irrelevant, you might see: > ein Gegner lobt … (a/the opponent praises …)

or in modern gender-inclusive style: > eine Gegnerin / ein Gegner lobt … or ein*e Gegner*in lobt … (various inclusive spellings).

Why is it die Mischung and not eine Mischung?

Both are possible, but the nuance changes slightly:

die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld
→ suggests a specific, identifiable mix of courage and patience, maybe one the speaker and listener already know about (e.g. the way this team plays).
eine Mischung aus Mut und Geduld
→ introduces it as one mix among others, more indefinite.

In context like:

In ihrem Kommentar lobt eine Gegnerin die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld in unserer Mannschaft.

this often implies:

We’re talking about the particular mix that characterizes our team.
It can also function almost like a general description of how the team is, so die Mischung feels natural.

So grammatically both are okay, but die fits the idea of a known or defining quality.

What does the preposition aus do in aus Mut und Geduld? Why not von Mut und Geduld?

aus has several meanings, and one of them is “made (out) of / consisting of”.

aus Holz = made of wood
aus Glas = made of glass
aus Mut und Geduld = consisting of courage and patience / made up of courage and patience

That’s exactly the idea: the Mischung (mixture) is composed of courage and patience.

von would sound odd here. Von is more like:

origin/source: ein Brief von ihr (a letter from her)
creator: ein Bild von Picasso (a painting by Picasso)
possession: das Auto von meinem Bruder (my brother’s car)

So:

Mischung aus X und Y is the natural collocation: a mix of X and Y (as components).
aus also takes the dative, so Mut and Geduld here are dative forms (they just look like nominative because they have no article).

Are Mut and Geduld in a particular case here? How can I tell if it’s dative with no articles?

Yes, they are in the dative case, because:

The preposition aus always takes dative.
So whatever comes directly after aus must be in the dative.

However:

Mut (courage) and Geduld (patience) are uncountable, abstract nouns, and
They appear without articles here.

In German, many abstract or mass nouns:

often appear without an article
look the same in nominative and dative singular (when there’s no article/adjective to show the case).

So:

You know they’re dative not from their form, but from the rule: aus + dative.
If you added an article, the dative would become visible, e.g.
aus dem Mut und der Geduld (this sounds more specific or theoretical, but it’s grammatically possible).

Why is it in unserer Mannschaft and not in unsere Mannschaft?

Again, this is about case and in taking dative or accusative:

in + dative = where something is (location)
in + accusative = where something goes (direction / movement into)

Here, the meaning is: > the mixture of courage and patience in our team (where it exists)

→ That’s location, so we use dative: in unserer Mannschaft

Now the grammar details:

Mannschaft is feminine singular: die Mannschaft
Dative feminine singular with possessive unser-:
- unserer Mannschaft

So:

in unsere Mannschaft = accusative feminine (would suggest direction / “into our team”)
in unserer Mannschaft = dative feminine (correct for “in our team” here).

Why is it unserer Mannschaft and not unser Mannschaft? What is that -er ending?

Unserer is the dative feminine singular form of the possessive unser- (our).

Possessive determiners in German (mein-, dein-, sein-, ihr-, unser-, euer-, Ihr-) behave like ein-words and take endings that agree with:

gender (masculine, feminine, neuter)
number (singular/plural)
case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive)

The noun Mannschaft:

gender: feminine
number: singular
case here: dative (after in, expressing location)

So unser- must take the dative feminine ending -er:

Nominative feminine: unsere Mannschaft (our team – subject)
Accusative feminine: unsere Mannschaft (our team – direct object)
Dative feminine: unserer Mannschaft (to/for/in our team)
Genitive feminine: unserer Mannschaft

That’s why it’s in unserer Mannschaft.

Does Mannschaft just mean “team”? When would I use Team instead?

Both Mannschaft and Team can mean team, but there are nuances:

Mannschaft:

very common in sports: Fußballmannschaft, Nationalmannschaft
can sound a bit more traditional or specifically sports-related
can also mean “crew” in some contexts (e.g. ship’s crew: Schiffsbesatzung / Mannschaft)

Team:

borrowed from English
used very broadly: sports, business, projects, office teams, etc.
sometimes sounds a bit more modern or neutral.

In this sentence: > … die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld in unserer Mannschaft.

Given the context (courage, patience, opponent), it clearly suggests a sports team, so Mannschaft fits very well.
You could say Team, but Mannschaft is slightly more idiomatic in many sports contexts.

Could in unserer Mannschaft belong to the verb lobt instead of die Mischung? Like “she praises in our team the mix of…”?

Grammatically, German word order allows some ambiguity, but the most natural reading is:

lobt [eine Gegnerin] [die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld in unserer Mannschaft]

i.e. “the mixture … in our team” is one big noun phrase.

Why this is the natural parse:

Semantics:
- It makes sense that the mixture is in our team.
- “She praises in our team the mixture…” (as if she is praising while being physically inside the team) is strange.
Typical patterns:
- Mischung aus X und Y in Z is a common structure (mixture of X and Y in Z).
- A prepositional phrase like in unserer Mannschaft often directly follows the noun it modifies.

If you really wanted to stress “in our team” as the location of the praising, you’d probably rephrase to make that clear, e.g.:

In unserer Mannschaft lobt eine Gegnerin die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld.

But with the original sentence, native speakers will understand in unserer Mannschaft as describing where the mixture exists, not where the praising happens.

What exactly is the difference between loben and a word like preisen or bewundern?

All three are about saying something positive, but they’re used differently:

loben = to praise
- neutral, everyday verb
- can be for people or things:
  Er lobt seine Mitarbeiter. (He praises his employees.)
  Sie lobt die gute Organisation. (She praises the good organization.)
preisen = to extol, to exalt, to highly praise
- more literary, elevated, or emotional
- often stronger than loben
- e.g. Sie preisen seine großen Taten. (They extol his great deeds.)
bewundern = to admire
- focuses more on admiration/being impressed, not necessarily on verbal praise
- e.g. Ich bewundere ihren Mut. (I admire her courage.)

In the sentence: > … lobt eine Gegnerin die Mischung …

loben is perfect: it’s about an opponent saying positive things (praising) in a comment.
preisen would sound more dramatic, bewundern would shift the meaning to inner admiration rather than explicitly praising in a comment.

Could I rephrase the sentence with the subject first? Would it still sound natural?

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

Eine Gegnerin lobt in ihrem Kommentar die Mischung aus Mut und Geduld in unserer Mannschaft.

Differences:

Original:
In ihrem Kommentar lobt eine Gegnerin …
→ light emphasis on the context (in her comment).
Rephrased:
Eine Gegnerin lobt in ihrem Kommentar …
→ light emphasis on the subject (an opponent).

Both are perfectly correct and idiomatic.
The verb-second rule stays the same in both versions; only the element in first position changes.