She is not at all melancholic. Silvia Neid is feeling different emotions going into her last home game as head coach of the Germany women’s team on Friday (18:00 CEST, live on ARD). One of these is gratefulness for the past 20 years, spent first as Tina Theune’s assistant, and then as the boss. The other is anticipation for what is ahead. After all, this is the ideal way to leave. After the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she will pass the baton to Steffi Jones, and she will leave behind a team which will continue to play an important role in women’s football.
Silvia Neid will have to adapt as she changes positions. She will no longer be sitting on the bench and she will no longer be working with the players on the pitch. Her new workplace will be a desk, an aeroplane, the world of international women’s football, but not from the side of the pitch - from the stands. The 52-year-old will take over as head of scouting for the Germany women’s teams: "I am extremely excited, because it is something so new. It is not just office work. I will be travelling around the world and looking at the latest developments in women’s football. Collecting this information, evaluating it, and then passing it on to Steffi Jones and her team will be an exciting task."
An impressive trophy cabinet
Neid can look back at an impressive trophy haul over the past 20 years. She has won the World Cup twice, the European Championship five times, and three bronze medals at the Olympics – to name but a few. And it doesn’t have to end there: she can really top off a golden era with something special in Rio.
The experienced coach appears very relaxed. Most of the pressure has gone now. She has achieved everything that can be achieved. Even qualification for the 2017 European Championship in the Netherlands was confirmed two games ago. Now she can sit back and enjoy. "I am not constantly thinking about it all coming to an end", she says. "On the contrary, I am enjoying every day that I have left with the team."
It is clear to see that she still wants to achieve this huge goal in Rio. But at the same time, there is a great sense of anticipation for the new chapter in her life, which will begin very shortly. "I have been thinking for a while that I might want to try something a bit different. That I wanted to make a change and further my horizons”, says Neid. "This decision has been brewing for a while, and I don’t have any regrets at the moment. It isn’t a tough farewell, but more a sense of relaxed expectation."
Played in the first ever official international match
The positive for women’s football is the fact that Silvia Neid will continue to hold a significant role. She has helped to shape the development in Germany more than most others – as a player and a coach. She was a part of history from the start, as she played in the Germany women’s team’s first ever official international match against Switzerland in Koblenz on 10th November 1982. She was just 18 at the time. She scored just one minute after being brought onto the pitch and helped her team to a 5-1 victory.
She contested 111 international matches in total, scoring 48 goals, and she was the first female German player to hit the mark of 100 matches. With 14 years of service for her country she gave up her number 10 shirt after the encounter against Brazil at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She had been runner-up at the World Cup, European champion three times, German champion three times, and DFB Cup winner six times.
And so it has come full circle. Her career as a manager will also come to an end after the Olympic Games. Back then, she was knocked out in the group stage. However, history should definitely not repeat itself on this occasion. It wouldn’t be a fitting end. This time, Silvia Neid wants to go out on a high – after the final, with a smile on her face, and a medal round her neck.