Germany women are the first Germany team to get under way at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In the first group match on Wednesday (23:00 CEST), head coach Silvia Neid’s team face Zimbabwe. The game against Australia follows on Saturday (23:00 CEST), before Canada on Tuesday, 9th August (21:00 CEST). In a big fact-file, DFB.de has scrutinised the competition, taking a look at the twelve participants – and has found a few records.
THE FORMAT: The Olympics women’s football tournament has been played since Atlanta 1996. Since 2008, twelve teams have been taking part, contesting 26 matches in total. As well as the two best-placed teams in each group, the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-final. The tournament will begin on Wednesday (18:00 CEST) at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro with the match between Sweden and South Africa. The final will take place on 19th August (22:30 CEST) in the Maracana in Rio.
THE STADIUMS: The tournament will be held in seven different stadiums, more than ever before. As well as the Maracana and the new Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, fans will also be revisiting the World Cup arenas in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador da Bahia and Sao Paulo.
EXPERIENCE: In Saskia Bartusiak, Annike Krahn, Simone Laudehr, Anja Mittag, Babett Peter and Melanie Behringer, a third of the 18-woman squad were involved in the bronze medal win at the 2008 Games in Beijing. There are no players left from the squad that picked up bronze in 2004. Anja Mittag is the most experienced Germany player with 138 appearances, and with 46 goals she is also the highest goalscorer in the squad.
CLUB REPRESENTATIVES: Champions Bayern Munich and runners-up VfL Wolfsburg make up more than half of the Germany squad, with five players from each.
BIGGEST SUCCESS: The Germany women’s biggest success at an Olympics football tournament is the bronze medal in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Germany are taking part for the fifth time this year. The team has only missed out on qualification for the tournament once, four years ago at London 2012.
RECORD BREAKERS: Renate Lingor, Birgit Prinz and Kerstin Stegemann, who were in the squad from 1996 to 2008, are the Germany record holders at an Olympic football tournament, with four tournaments to their name. The Germany record goalscorer is Birgit Prinz with ten goals. She became the only German to score the most goals at a tournament when she scored five in 2004, alongside Brazil’s Cristiane. Prinz also contested the most matches for Germany at an Olympics – 19 in total. Nadine Angerer holds the goalkeeping record for the most minutes without conceding (433 in 2008).
OTHER TEAMS: The only team making their Olympics debut this year are Germany’s first opponents Zimbabwe. On the other hand, Brazil, Sweden and the USA are the only countries to have taken part in all six tournaments. With four gold medals and one silver medal, the USA are the most successful team in the history of the football tournament.
BUNDESLIGA REPRESENTATIVES: As well as the majority of the Germany squad, there are five more players who play in the Allianz Women’s Bundesliga: New Zealander Amber Hearn has been at FF USV Jena since 2011. Turbine-Potsdam player Elise Kellond-Knight will play for Australia in the tournament, and the Canadian Sophie Schmidt will be a familiar face to Frankfurt fans. Elise Bussaglia from France and Nilla Fischer from Sweden are both under contract at Wolfsburg.
THE TITLE-HOLDERS: The USA have taken four of the five gold medals at Olympics football tournaments. They only missed out in 2000, but they still managed to get a silver medal after losing 3-2 after extra time to Norway in the final. The Americans are also the only team to finish in the top three at every World Cup and Olympic Games. Just like in 1999, in 2015, the USA went on as Olympic champions to win the World Cup – no other team has managed that. Now they could become the first team to win a gold medal as current world champions.
THE HEAD COACH: Silvia Neid is the longest serving head coach in the tournament. She has been in charge of Germany women since July 2005. She is followed by John Herdman, who has been Canada head coach since 2011. Sweden’s Pia Sundhage is at her third Olympic Games, just like John Herdman, meaning that the two share the record. Sundhage and Neid are the only coaches to have also played at an Olympics. They both took part in the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
John Herdman, alongside Even Pellerud from Norway, was the only manager coming into this tournament who had represented two different teams at the Olympics. He coached New Zealand in 2008 and Canada in 2012. This year, Pia Sundhage will join them, as she played for Sweden but lifted the title with the USA in 2008 and 2012. Therefore, she is also the only coach with more than one Olympic title.
THE HOSTS: Brazil are hoping to become the first team since the USA in 1996 to lift the title in their first tournament as hosts. The host nation has not managed to make it as far as the semi-final in the last four tournaments. For Brazil, this tournament brings back painful memories, as the South Americans have been in the final twice (2004 and 2008), and lost both times in extra time against the USA. This makes them the record silver medal winners. The Brazilians missed out on the semi-final for the first time in 2012.
The figurehead of the Brazil team is striker Marta. She was named Women’s Footballer of the Year six times in a row between 2006 and 2010. No person in men’s or women’s football has ever achieved that. After two silver medals in 2004 and 2008, she could pick up her third Olympic medal this summer.
Formiga is the only player to have taken part in all five Olympic football tournaments. She also made the most appearances (24). She is also in the squad for the 2016 Games, and so will make it to her sixth tournament. Her teammate Cristiane is the record goalscorer with twelve goals at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 tournaments. She will get the chance to improve on this record, especially as her closest rivals Birgit Prinz (10) and Abby Wambach (9) have retired from international football.
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Germany women are the first Germany team to get under way at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In the first group match on Wednesday (23:00 CEST), head coach Silvia Neid’s team face Zimbabwe. The game against Australia follows on Saturday (23:00 CEST), before Canada on Tuesday, 9th August (21:00 CEST). In a big fact-file, DFB.de has scrutinised the competition, taking a look at the twelve participants – and has found a few records.
THE FORMAT: The Olympics women’s football tournament has been played since Atlanta 1996. Since 2008, twelve teams have been taking part, contesting 26 matches in total. As well as the two best-placed teams in each group, the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-final. The tournament will begin on Wednesday (18:00 CEST) at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro with the match between Sweden and South Africa. The final will take place on 19th August (22:30 CEST) in the Maracana in Rio.
THE STADIUMS: The tournament will be held in seven different stadiums, more than ever before. As well as the Maracana and the new Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, fans will also be revisiting the World Cup arenas in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador da Bahia and Sao Paulo.
EXPERIENCE: In Saskia Bartusiak, Annike Krahn, Simone Laudehr, Anja Mittag, Babett Peter and Melanie Behringer, a third of the 18-woman squad were involved in the bronze medal win at the 2008 Games in Beijing. There are no players left from the squad that picked up bronze in 2004. Anja Mittag is the most experienced Germany player with 138 appearances, and with 46 goals she is also the highest goalscorer in the squad.
CLUB REPRESENTATIVES: Champions Bayern Munich and runners-up VfL Wolfsburg make up more than half of the Germany squad, with five players from each.
BIGGEST SUCCESS: The Germany women’s biggest success at an Olympics football tournament is the bronze medal in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Germany are taking part for the fifth time this year. The team has only missed out on qualification for the tournament once, four years ago at London 2012.
RECORD BREAKERS: Renate Lingor, Birgit Prinz and Kerstin Stegemann, who were in the squad from 1996 to 2008, are the Germany record holders at an Olympic football tournament, with four tournaments to their name. The Germany record goalscorer is Birgit Prinz with ten goals. She became the only German to score the most goals at a tournament when she scored five in 2004, alongside Brazil’s Cristiane. Prinz also contested the most matches for Germany at an Olympics – 19 in total. Nadine Angerer holds the goalkeeping record for the most minutes without conceding (433 in 2008).
OTHER TEAMS: The only team making their Olympics debut this year are Germany’s first opponents Zimbabwe. On the other hand, Brazil, Sweden and the USA are the only countries to have taken part in all six tournaments. With four gold medals and one silver medal, the USA are the most successful team in the history of the football tournament.
BUNDESLIGA REPRESENTATIVES: As well as the majority of the Germany squad, there are five more players who play in the Allianz Women’s Bundesliga: New Zealander Amber Hearn has been at FF USV Jena since 2011. Turbine-Potsdam player Elise Kellond-Knight will play for Australia in the tournament, and the Canadian Sophie Schmidt will be a familiar face to Frankfurt fans. Elise Bussaglia from France and Nilla Fischer from Sweden are both under contract at Wolfsburg.
THE TITLE-HOLDERS: The USA have taken four of the five gold medals at Olympics football tournaments. They only missed out in 2000, but they still managed to get a silver medal after losing 3-2 after extra time to Norway in the final. The Americans are also the only team to finish in the top three at every World Cup and Olympic Games. Just like in 1999, in 2015, the USA went on as Olympic champions to win the World Cup – no other team has managed that. Now they could become the first team to win a gold medal as current world champions.
THE HEAD COACH: Silvia Neid is the longest serving head coach in the tournament. She has been in charge of Germany women since July 2005. She is followed by John Herdman, who has been Canada head coach since 2011. Sweden’s Pia Sundhage is at her third Olympic Games, just like John Herdman, meaning that the two share the record. Sundhage and Neid are the only coaches to have also played at an Olympics. They both took part in the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
John Herdman, alongside Even Pellerud from Norway, was the only manager coming into this tournament who had represented two different teams at the Olympics. He coached New Zealand in 2008 and Canada in 2012. This year, Pia Sundhage will join them, as she played for Sweden but lifted the title with the USA in 2008 and 2012. Therefore, she is also the only coach with more than one Olympic title.
THE HOSTS: Brazil are hoping to become the first team since the USA in 1996 to lift the title in their first tournament as hosts. The host nation has not managed to make it as far as the semi-final in the last four tournaments. For Brazil, this tournament brings back painful memories, as the South Americans have been in the final twice (2004 and 2008), and lost both times in extra time against the USA. This makes them the record silver medal winners. The Brazilians missed out on the semi-final for the first time in 2012.
The figurehead of the Brazil team is striker Marta. She was named Women’s Footballer of the Year six times in a row between 2006 and 2010. No person in men’s or women’s football has ever achieved that. After two silver medals in 2004 and 2008, she could pick up her third Olympic medal this summer.
Formiga is the only player to have taken part in all five Olympic football tournaments. She also made the most appearances (24). She is also in the squad for the 2016 Games, and so will make it to her sixth tournament. Her teammate Cristiane is the record goalscorer with twelve goals at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 tournaments. She will get the chance to improve on this record, especially as her closest rivals Birgit Prinz (10) and Abby Wambach (9) have retired from international football.
