Preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games can kick-off in earnest now for Silvia Neid and Horst Hrubesch. The draw for the tournament took place yesterday and both bosses were happy with the results. The Women’s senior squad and men’s U21s have some tricky games in the group stage but both teams will be hoping to reach the knock-out rounds. The duo spoke to DFB.de after the event about their opponents, the hosts and their respective aims for Rio 2016.
DFB.de: What did you make of the draw, which took place in the Maracana?
Hrubesch: I played there roughly 40 years ago against Brazil. 140,000 people were there that day and the atmosphere was incredible. The stadium looks more modern nowadays and there are statues of guys I used to play against around here – Zico for example. When you’re here it makes you think back to the 2014 World Cup. It’s a fantastic stadium and it was special to be here for the draw.
DFB.de: What are your thoughts on the draw?
Neid: Australia are the Asian champions and Canada reached the World Cup quarters last year, which shows how good they both are. They’re athletic, strong, robust and know how to play good football. We don’t know too much about Zimbabwe specifically but African sides are known for being technically sound. I think that the groups are even. We knew that it would be possible to face a top side in the quarters. There are 12 good sides in the competition, but we’re going to focus on ourselves in order to make sure that we’re ready.
Hrubesch: I’m happy with it. Obviously it would have been nice to play in Group A because we would have got an attractive game against the hosts. Mexico won the tournament in 2012 and the current crop of players lifted the U17 World Cup in 2011. They’re a strong team and it’s going to be a tough match for sure. It’s never easy to play against South Korea. I don’t know much about Fiji but we’ll scout them over the coming months. There are no easy games these days.
DFB.de: How important do you think not having to play in Manaus will be?
Neid: The journey there isn’t ideal and the conditions would have been tough for sure – I’m glad that we avoided it.
Hrubesch: I didn’t want to play there. Salvador and Belo Horizonte are good places to play – their climate in August isn’t too dissimilar to the one we are used to in Germany. If we top the table our quarterfinal will be played in Belo Horizonte too, which will be nice.
DFB.de: Germany will send a men’s and women’s football team to the Olympics for the first time this summer – is that special for you?
Hrubesch: We came here together and sat next to each other at the draw. We’re treating this like one joint exercise – it’s great.
Neid: I agree. Hopefully we’ll both be successful too!
DFB.de: What are your aims for the Games?
Neid: We want to win the Gold Medal but we know that it won’t be easy. We’re looking forward to the tournament. Coming to Rio and being part of the Olympics is going to be special. It would be great to win Gold here in the Maracana, a stadium which Germany has fond memories of.
Hrubesch: I want to spend some time in the Olympic Village and to do that we need to reach the semis, but obviously we want to be here until the end. We’ll take it step by step though. I think that it’s going to be a great experience for everyone involved.
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Preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games can kick-off in earnest now for Silvia Neid and Horst Hrubesch. The draw for the tournament took place yesterday and both bosses were happy with the results. The Women’s senior squad and men’s U21s have some tricky games in the group stage but both teams will be hoping to reach the knock-out rounds. The duo spoke to DFB.de after the event about their opponents, the hosts and their respective aims for Rio 2016.
DFB.de: What did you make of the draw, which took place in the Maracana?
Hrubesch: I played there roughly 40 years ago against Brazil. 140,000 people were there that day and the atmosphere was incredible. The stadium looks more modern nowadays and there are statues of guys I used to play against around here – Zico for example. When you’re here it makes you think back to the 2014 World Cup. It’s a fantastic stadium and it was special to be here for the draw.
DFB.de: What are your thoughts on the draw?
Neid: Australia are the Asian champions and Canada reached the World Cup quarters last year, which shows how good they both are. They’re athletic, strong, robust and know how to play good football. We don’t know too much about Zimbabwe specifically but African sides are known for being technically sound. I think that the groups are even. We knew that it would be possible to face a top side in the quarters. There are 12 good sides in the competition, but we’re going to focus on ourselves in order to make sure that we’re ready.
Hrubesch: I’m happy with it. Obviously it would have been nice to play in Group A because we would have got an attractive game against the hosts. Mexico won the tournament in 2012 and the current crop of players lifted the U17 World Cup in 2011. They’re a strong team and it’s going to be a tough match for sure. It’s never easy to play against South Korea. I don’t know much about Fiji but we’ll scout them over the coming months. There are no easy games these days.
DFB.de: How important do you think not having to play in Manaus will be?
Neid: The journey there isn’t ideal and the conditions would have been tough for sure – I’m glad that we avoided it.
Hrubesch: I didn’t want to play there. Salvador and Belo Horizonte are good places to play – their climate in August isn’t too dissimilar to the one we are used to in Germany. If we top the table our quarterfinal will be played in Belo Horizonte too, which will be nice.
DFB.de: Germany will send a men’s and women’s football team to the Olympics for the first time this summer – is that special for you?
Hrubesch: We came here together and sat next to each other at the draw. We’re treating this like one joint exercise – it’s great.
Neid: I agree. Hopefully we’ll both be successful too!
DFB.de: What are your aims for the Games?
Neid: We want to win the Gold Medal but we know that it won’t be easy. We’re looking forward to the tournament. Coming to Rio and being part of the Olympics is going to be special. It would be great to win Gold here in the Maracana, a stadium which Germany has fond memories of.
Hrubesch: I want to spend some time in the Olympic Village and to do that we need to reach the semis, but obviously we want to be here until the end. We’ll take it step by step though. I think that it’s going to be a great experience for everyone involved.
