Neid: "I watched Thailand in a friendly with Essen. The team have also been receiving help from Hope Powell (former England manager, editor’s note). We face them in our third game so we can watch them twice beforehand at the tournament therefore I’m not too worried. It’s more difficult with regards to the Ivory Coast – we’re still missing information from their friendlies, which the association will make available to us. I have scouts, however, who will travel to the matches. We already have four DVDs of them in action but they’re from November and the side will have developed further. It’s therefore essential that we get chance to see them again."
Question: "Your group stage rivals are all making their World Cup debuts. With all due respect to them, progressing to the last 16 is imperative, isn‘t it?"
Neid: "Absolutely. When you make it through to the last 16 as group winner though, you face a tricky test as you’ll come up against the team who finishes third in Group D and that could be any one of USA, Sweden, Nigeria or Australia. If you finish second in the group, you’ll come up against the second placed side in Group F, which could be England or France. We have to take things as they come."
Question: "Who are the main contenders for World Cup glory?"
Neid: "In my view, there are eight teams in the running to become World Champions and four teams that always pose a threat and could potentially trip one of the favourites up. That’s twelve teams in contention, quite a lot. Other people may see it differently but I’ve known these teams for decades and have seen them develop. Canada, who have been preparing since November, clearly USA, Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, France and ourselves are the favourites."
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Germany are holding a training camp in Switzerland ahead of the World Cup in Canada (6th June – 5th July). Manager Silvia Neid recently spoke about the challenges, favourites and expectations for the tournament.
Question: "Ms Neid, preparations for the World Cup are on the home stretch. Why did you decide to hold your final training camp in Switzerland?"
Neid: "The pieces all fitted together and fell into place. The first question was where nearby do we have access to train on the surface that the World Cup will take place on? That left us with a choice between the Netherlands and Switzerland. In the end, Switzerland was the obvious choice because the Netherlands decided to leave for Canada early. We also wanted to go somewhere where it would be possible to arrange a friendly against a quality opponent. The Swiss are strong in attack and that’s exactly what we need. We want to work on our defence. Holding our training camp in Switzerland is therefore the perfect solution."
Question: "It’s not only going to be your last World Cup, but also a competition with lots of unique features. It will be played on artificial turf, teams must travel great distances…Is the tournament your biggest challenge to date?"
Neid: "Yes, especially given those two reasons. Playing on artificial turf is new territory for us but we have to adapt and get used to it very quickly. Nevertheless, the ball will bounce differently and the match will be much quicker. Technically adept sides have an advantage. Dealing with all of the miles that we will then have to travel between games and the time change adds to the challenge. In addition, the competition is a lot tighter so it will come down to how the teams perform on the day. Taking all of this into consideration, anything is possible at the World Cup. You can win the competition or you can be knocked out in the early stages. There will be a last 16 round for the first time. This means when a team makes it all the way through to the final, they will have played not six but seven games in total. Moreover, we have the shortest time ever to prepare for the tournament and then you can add our injury crisis into the equation. It’s already the biggest challenge to date."
Question: "You travelled to Canada for a friendly straight after the end of the season last year. What did you learn from those experiences?"
Neid: "My plans went out of the window the first three days. I wanted to focus on tactical elements in training but the players weren’t up to doing that. That was intense. It was a similar story with regards to the game against Brazil in Fürth in April – we had to accordingly remain flexible and see that our players were enjoying their football once again and that they could take something out of the sessions. Sometimes less is more. Being able to recognise that certainly comes with experience."
Question: "Looking ahead to the World Cup, it would be fair to say that you know the most about Norway out of all your group opponents. How much do you already know about Thailand and the Ivory Coast?"
Neid: "I watched Thailand in a friendly with Essen. The team have also been receiving help from Hope Powell (former England manager, editor’s note). We face them in our third game so we can watch them twice beforehand at the tournament therefore I’m not too worried. It’s more difficult with regards to the Ivory Coast – we’re still missing information from their friendlies, which the association will make available to us. I have scouts, however, who will travel to the matches. We already have four DVDs of them in action but they’re from November and the side will have developed further. It’s therefore essential that we get chance to see them again."
Question: "Your group stage rivals are all making their World Cup debuts. With all due respect to them, progressing to the last 16 is imperative, isn‘t it?"
Neid: "Absolutely. When you make it through to the last 16 as group winner though, you face a tricky test as you’ll come up against the team who finishes third in Group D and that could be any one of USA, Sweden, Nigeria or Australia. If you finish second in the group, you’ll come up against the second placed side in Group F, which could be England or France. We have to take things as they come."
Question: "Who are the main contenders for World Cup glory?"
Neid: "In my view, there are eight teams in the running to become World Champions and four teams that always pose a threat and could potentially trip one of the favourites up. That’s twelve teams in contention, quite a lot. Other people may see it differently but I’ve known these teams for decades and have seen them develop. Canada, who have been preparing since November, clearly USA, Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, France and ourselves are the favourites."