One of the outstanding goalkeepers in the history of the women’s game ends her international career on Thursday. 15 years after her debut on April 7, 1993, in a game against the USA, Germany’s goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg will play her final game for the national team. “I had a grand time” said the 36-year old Rottenberg, who has won two World Cups and three European Championships during her incomparable run.
The game against Wales on Thursday in Kassel, a qualifying game for the next European Championship, will be her final appearance wearing the German black and white. The retirement comes following a number of severe injuries. At the beginning of 2007, Silke Rottenberg suffered a ruptured knee ligament. She then lost her position as the national team’s No. 1 goalkeeper to Nadine Angerer and had to watch her team winning the 2007 World Cup from the bench.
“This was not an easy decision at all. Saying farewell after such a successful stretch hurts”, said Silke Rottenberg. But the move does not come as a surprise. When she tore a cruciate ligament at the Four Nations Tournament in Guangzhou (China) in January 2007, she had already thought long and hard about saying farewell. “But that’s not the way I wanted it to end, not because of an injury.” She worked incredibly hard on her recovery. As the final preps for the 2007 FIFA World Cup began, Germany’s No. 1 had recaptured her A-game. Then she suffered a muscle tear in her calf.
Today, she has 125 national games under her belt and feels at ease with letting-go. “Nadine has played an outstanding World Cup. Since then, her performance curve has not dipped at all. Why change anything?”, says Rottenberg. But staying as the No. 2 keeper is no option for Silke Rottenberg, who has guarded the German goal for more than a decade. “Following the World Cup in China from the bench was very hard. If I were younger, that might be my choice, but now I feel it’s time to open a slot for a young girl as Nadine’s backup.”
With her Bundesliga club, the 1. FFC Frankfurt, Silke Rottenberg has just won the UEFA-Cup, beating the Swedish club Umea IK in front of a record crowd of more than 27,000 fans at Frankfurt’s World Cup arena. And what lies ahead? “I passed all coaches’ exams, so I would like to stay with football, only now teaching the game. It will be very rewarding to pass my experience to a younger generation.”
[bild1]
One of the outstanding goalkeepers in the history of the women’s game ends her international career on Thursday. 15 years after her debut on April 7, 1993, in a game against the USA, Germany’s goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg will play her final game for the national team. “I had a grand time” said the 36-year old Rottenberg, who has won two World Cups and three European Championships during her incomparable run.
The game against Wales on Thursday in Kassel, a qualifying game for the next European Championship, will be her final appearance wearing the German black and white. The retirement comes following a number of severe injuries. At the beginning of 2007, Silke Rottenberg suffered a ruptured knee ligament. She then lost her position as the national team’s No. 1 goalkeeper to Nadine Angerer and had to watch her team winning the 2007 World Cup from the bench.
“This was not an easy decision at all. Saying farewell after such a successful stretch hurts”, said Silke Rottenberg. But the move does not come as a surprise. When she tore a cruciate ligament at the Four Nations Tournament in Guangzhou (China) in January 2007, she had already thought long and hard about saying farewell. “But that’s not the way I wanted it to end, not because of an injury.” She worked incredibly hard on her recovery. As the final preps for the 2007 FIFA World Cup began, Germany’s No. 1 had recaptured her A-game. Then she suffered a muscle tear in her calf.
Today, she has 125 national games under her belt and feels at ease with letting-go. “Nadine has played an outstanding World Cup. Since then, her performance curve has not dipped at all. Why change anything?”, says Rottenberg. But staying as the No. 2 keeper is no option for Silke Rottenberg, who has guarded the German goal for more than a decade. “Following the World Cup in China from the bench was very hard. If I were younger, that might be my choice, but now I feel it’s time to open a slot for a young girl as Nadine’s backup.”
With her Bundesliga club, the 1. FFC Frankfurt, Silke Rottenberg has just won the UEFA-Cup, beating the Swedish club Umea IK in front of a record crowd of more than 27,000 fans at Frankfurt’s World Cup arena. And what lies ahead? “I passed all coaches’ exams, so I would like to stay with football, only now teaching the game. It will be very rewarding to pass my experience to a younger generation.”
