It was the perfect end to a successful year: Germany Women’s national team rounded off 2014 with a 3-0 win against England at a sold out Wembley stadium. After winning the Algarve Cup earlier in the year, manager Silvia Neid’s team went on to qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Canada with ten wins from ten games. In the DFB.de interview of the week, Silvia Neid spoke to Annette Seitz about the game at Wembley, the only loss of 2014 and the expectations at the World Cup next summer.
DFB.de: How do you assess the end to the year?
Silvia Neid: Obviously, we are very happy to end the year successfully. We gave away hardly any chances and scored our goals at the right time against one of the best teams in Europe. We were compact, we were flexible at the back and defended well. I’m very happy with how we played and with the result.
DFB.de: What was it like to play at Wembley?
Neid: It was a historic game at an extraordinary stadium and we were the opposition. That was something special. It was also special for me personally. I enjoyed it and obviously you can enjoy it even more when you are successful (she laughs).
DFB.de: How do you sum up the past season?
Neid: Very positively. We won the Algarve Cup and qualified for the World Cup. It’s clear that these games weren’t against the strongest of teams but we always concentrate hard going into the games. That’s vital, else you can draw or even lose the games.
DFB.de: After qualifying for the World Cup, you had three games against tough opposition- and your first loss in 2014 against France.
It was the perfect end to a successful year: Germany Women’s national team rounded off 2014 with a 3-0 win against England at a sold out Wembley stadium. After winning the Algarve Cup earlier in the year, manager Silvia Neid’s team went on to qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Canada with ten wins from ten games. In the DFB.de interview of the week, Silvia Neid spoke to Annette Seitz about the game at Wembley, the only loss of 2014 and the expectations at the World Cup next summer.
DFB.de: How do you assess the end to the year?
Silvia Neid: Obviously, we are very happy to end the year successfully. We gave away hardly any chances and scored our goals at the right time against one of the best teams in Europe. We were compact, we were flexible at the back and defended well. I’m very happy with how we played and with the result.
DFB.de: What was it like to play at Wembley?
Neid: It was a historic game at an extraordinary stadium and we were the opposition. That was something special. It was also special for me personally. I enjoyed it and obviously you can enjoy it even more when you are successful (she laughs).
DFB.de: How do you sum up the past season?
Neid: Very positively. We won the Algarve Cup and qualified for the World Cup. It’s clear that these games weren’t against the strongest of teams but we always concentrate hard going into the games. That’s vital, else you can draw or even lose the games.
DFB.de: After qualifying for the World Cup, you had three games against tough opposition- and your first loss in 2014 against France.
Neid: That’s correct. We were very annoyed but we deserved to lose. But on the other hand, it’s these type of games that you can take a lot from as you learn a lot and we’ll take that forward into next year. I was happy that we got better so quickly after the France game against Sweden. You could sense that the players wanted to be better. We succeeded in going up another level against England. But we know that we’ll have to continue to work hard.
DFB.de: What’s the plan for the next few months?
Neid: The draw for the group stage of the World Cup takes place on 6th December in Ottawa and I’ll be there. After that, we’ll decide on who we want to play in the two friendlies in April and May 2015. We’ll have a training camp in February somewhere in the south and in March we’ll play in the high-quality Algarve Cup, and Brazil and France will also be there. We’ll meet up in April, before beginning our preparations for the World Cup on 18th May.
DFB.de: There will be only a short time to prepare. Would a Champions League final with German participation, with either Wolfsburg and/or Frankfurt, make the preparations for the World Cup even shorter?
Neid: Whether it’s three days more or less, it doesn’t really make a difference. I believe that the players that go further in the Champions League benefit from that in every respect. And if they get to the final, then that can spur us on and affect us in a positive way. I hope that the players go as far as possible. But it’s also clear that we can’t work with them on our endurance levels if we have a short preparation. The players will have to arrive with that.
DFB.de: That means that the club managers have to follow suit?
Neid: Yes. We are in constant communication with the clubs of our players and it’s led to very good and intense conversations. Everyone has the same aim as us: to do as well as possible at the World Cup.
DFB.de: How do you assess your chances in Canada?
Neid: Eight of the ten teams have the quality to win the title. Obviously, it’s our dream and vision tob e World Champions. But it’s a long road ahead. We’ll have achieved a big goal if we reach the semi-finals as we’ll be among the best for teams in the world.
