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UEFA ORGANISATION: Meinert dampens great expectations

/noticias.info/ "When you are Germany coach, you have to accept that you'll be seen by everybody as the favourites," mused Maren Meinert ahead of this month's UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship.

Invincible aura
The 34-year-old knows only too well where the aura of invincibility surrounding women's football in Germany has come from. As one of the best attacking midfielders to have graced the game, she helped her country win the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and three UEFA European Women's Championships before making a smooth transition to coaching with the national U19 side in 2005. Germany reached the semi-finals in Meinert's first campaign in charge, then won the last two editions to extend their haul of successes in the ten-year-old competition to five.

High expectations
Having qualified again in convincing fashion – plundering 39 goals in just six matches – they will be expected by many to clinch a third straight title in France. Meinert duly recognises that anything other than victory in the final in Tours on 19 July will be seen as failure. "I understand why people have high expectations," Meinert told uefa.com. "We're the defending champions and we have a great record at this level. Everybody in Germany expects us to win, but for now, I'm just satisfied to have qualified and I think if we reach the semi-finals that would be another good achievement."

'Talented generation'
Meinert's caution stems from the fact Germany's squad includes only three players remaining from the team that prevailed in Iceland 12 months ago. "I hope our inexperience won't cost us," the ex-Boston Breakers star said. "We have a very young team and we had some defensive difficulties in qualifying, especially in the match against Russia [that Germany won 8-3]. But overall I've been pleased with the girls. We were lucky to have a very talented generation of girls born in 1988 – now we'll see how the 1989 and 1990 generations get on."

Rising standards
Germany open their defence against England in a repeat of last year's final before facing Sweden and Scotland. Meinert predicts that all three opponents will test her side's resolve, saying: "Facing England in the opening game is very tough and overall we've got three really hard matches. The standard has been rising year after year and now there's very little difference between the eight teams. Any team could reach the semi-finals. The most important thing is that we play hard and the girls benefit from competing in an international event."

Extra training
Meinert is particularly well-placed to gauge the development in women's football, having started her international playing career in 1991. She points to a marked improvement in recent times, saying: "The biggest difference nowadays is the speed of the players, both with and without the ball. The game is faster and the girls are technically much better because they train more intensively. When I played, we only trained twice a week. These days I expect my players to train seven or eight times a week. That's a big difference." notas_de_prensa_archivo