Player Profiles • in-dePth team analysis • tournament Progress chart • maP of the venues • fifa Women’s World cuP™ history • Key statistics • action Photos

FIFA Women’s World Cup

2011

GermAnYoFFICIAl Book

™

welcome to germany

The sixth FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off on Sunday, 26 June at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, the home of Hertha BSC and the venue for the 2006 men’s FIFA World Cup final. This will be the only game played in Berlin. There are eight other venues spread all around Germany.

mIa Hamm – InternatIonal FootBall amBaSSaDor

Hailed by Pele as one of the world’s top-125 living footballers, the career of Mia Hamm spanned 17 years and included two FIFA Women’s World Cup victories, two Olympic gold medals (and a silver), and two FIFA World Women’s Player of the Year awards. Hamm, who was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame a year later, made history in 1987 when she was selected for the US team aged 15 and holds the record for the most international goals scored by man or woman – a staggering 158 in 275 matches. She retired from playing in 2004 aged 32.

Speaking of her appointment as an International Ambassador for 2011, the former United States striker said: “It’s a great honour. I’m convinced that the tournament will set new benchmarks and that women’s football in general will benefit from it greatly. I experienced the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany as a fan, and now, as an ambassador, I’ll be doing my best to ensure we enjoy a similarly successful tournament. It’s really special to be involved in such a fantastic event.”

ImPUlS arena: AUGSBURG

Situated in the south west of Bavaria, the Impuls Arena, opened in July 2009 costing around €45 million to construct and is one of the newest stadiums for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The home of FC Augsburg offers room for 22,216 spectators. The stadium will host three first-round matches as well as a quarter-final.

rUHrStaDIon: BOCHUM

Originally built in 1926, the Ruhrstadion (also known as rewirpowerSTADION due to a sponsorship deal) is the smallest of the tournament stadiums, currently with a capacity of 19,226. VfL Bochum’s home stadium will be renovated before the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup and will be the site of four first round matches.

BorUSSIa-ParK: MÖNCHENGLADBACH

The third-largest stadium at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany is Borussia Park Stadium, where Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach play their home matches. The capacity of Borussia Park is 46,297. It will host two first-round matches and one semi-final. It cost around €85 million to construct.

rUDolF-HarBIg-StaDIon: DRESDEN

Home of the once-magnificent Dynamo Dresden in the east of the country, the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion has been entirely rebuilt and was reopened in September 2009 for a friendly between Dynamo Dresden and Schalke 04, now seating 22,933. In addition to three group matches, it will also host a quarter-final.

commerZBanK arena: FRANKFURT

The Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena, the home for Eintracht Frankfurt, will host the final on 17 July 2011. Purpose-built in 2005, the stadium has a capacity of 49,240, although this can increase to 65,000 for concerts. In addition to the final, the stadium will also host two first-round matches and a semi-final.

VolKSwagen arena: WOLFSBURG

Volkswagen Arena is situated in the east of Lower Saxony, the town of Wolfsburg is the only game site in northern Germany and seats 25,361. The home to 2008–09 Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg was built in 2002 and will host three first-round matches and a quarter-final. It offers a top of the range restaurant called the Soccer Cafe.

rHeIn-necKar-arena: SINSHEIM

The Rhein Neckar Arena – home to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – opened in 2009 and will fit 25,641 for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Sinsheim is by far the smallest host city for the tournament with just 35,500 residents. Dietmar Hopp’s Rhein Neckar Arena will host three first-round matches and the game for third place.

Bayarena: LEVERKUSEN

Situated between Cologne and Düsseldorf, the BayArena is the home stadium for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and has been since 1958. Capacity was increased from 22,500 to 30,000 by the end of 2009. Leverkusen, home to 161,000 people, will welcome football fans for three first-round matches as well as one quarter-final.

olymPIaStaDIon: BERLIN

Originally built for the 1936 Olympic Games, the Olympiastadion, later reconstructed in 2004 at a cost of €242 million for the 2006 men’s FIFA World Cup. The stadium is the largest stadium at the tournament with a capacity of 74,244. Hertha BSC Berlin’s home arena will only host the Opening Match.

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Below: A general view of the Rewirpower stadium in Bochum.

Bottom left: The Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg.

Bottom right: View of the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

right: Francielle (L) of Brazil battles for the ball with Kerstin Garefrekes (R) of Germany during the Women’s International Friendly match between Germany and Brazil at the Commerzbank Arena on April 22, 2009.

Qualification for the tournament began in July 2009. As the host nation, Germany was granted an automatic place while the other countries had to qualify.

“Fans in Germany can look forward to a joyful and top-quality festival of world football,” said Dr Theo Zwanziger, president of the German Football Association (the DFB). “Just like the fairytale in the summer of 2006, the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup will further enhance the image and reputation of our nation.”

Below: Germany became the first country to retain the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2007. Su-prise winners in the USA, glory in China was more expected, thanks to another seven-goal perfor-mance from star striker Birgit Prinz (far left).

germanyONE TO WATCHBIrgIt PrInZPosition: Centre-forwardBorn: Frankfurt am Main, 25 October 1977

Considered by many shrewd observers to be the best of all time, Birgit Printz is a household name whose international stats make remarkable reading: played 204, scored 126. She’s the FIFA Women’s World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 14 goals.

Enchanted by the game since she was a child, Prinz has been with 1. FFC Frankfurt since July 1994. As centre-forward in the

2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Prinz scored seven goals and then played for Germany at the 2004 summer Olympics. Her honours include winning the FIFA Women’s Football Player of the Year award in 2002 and 2004 and the World Women’s Football Player of the Year award in 2003 and 2004.

But that was then and this is now: the most recent figures confirmed by the DFB state that the number of women currently registered as players is over a million and – according to official figures from FIFA – 26 million participate in football associations all over the world. Peco Bauwens might well be spinning in his grave.

Indeed, in Germany in 1955 women were officially banned from playing football because, it was argued, they “lacked the physical and psychological attributes” necessary for the game. Only in 1970 did the DFB lift the ban, on condition that women should play “only in the warm months”.

The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in a country where football is almost a religion. When the FIFA World Cup was held there in 2006, Germany, under the tutelage of Jürgen Klinsmann, came third amid a festival atmosphere, spectacular organization and almost perfect weather. The entire country was awash with national

COACH SIlVIa neIDSilvia Neid became head coach of Germany’s women in the summer of 2005. Widely considered as the country’s most successful footballer, she won seven national championships and six DFB-Pokal trophies. She retired in 1996 and began coaching a year later. She managed the German women’s Under-19 team to victory in the 2004 FIFA Women’s Under-19 World

Cup. Appointed sole manager of the senior women’s national team in 2005 (having served an apprenticeship alongside previous

incumbent Tina Theune), she

masterminded Germany’s successful

defence of their FIFA Women’s World Cup crown in 2007.

pride and the tournament was considered an enormous success.

In turn, the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup is living up to the highest of expectations. This is reflected by the fact that the tournament’s sponsorship programme is already sold out. That all the slots have been filled so early is further evidence of an attractive competition with the power to entertain with high-quality football played in a magical atmosphere.

Traditionally strong, Germany are the reigning champions. They defended their 2003 title successfully in China in 2007 and are going for an unprecedented hat-trick in 2011. This time, with the added advantage of home soil, they’ll be tournament favourites. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Whoever is drawn to play Germany on the 26 June will face a tough task. The last team that began their world cup campaign against the Germans was Argentina, and they were dismantled 11–0, with Birgit Prinz netting a hat-trick, in what was the biggest win in World Cup history.

The German team have also had success in European Championships. They are the reigning champions and have won the last five tournaments, beating England 6–2 in 2009.

The last time Germany hosted a major international women’s tournament (UEFA Women’s Euro 2001), they won it, defeating Sweden 1–0 thanks to a 98th minute goal from Claudia Müller, they also recorded an imperious 5–0 conquest over Russia, and a convincing 3–0 defeat of England. All of this points toward another dominating performance by the Germans on home soil.

HoStS wItH HIgH HoPeS

naDIne angererPosition: GoalkeeperBorn: Lohr am Main, 10 November 1978

The most successful German goalkeeper of all time with 13 trophies to her name, 31-year-old Nadine Angerer is a legendary figure in German domestic football. Having started out as a centre-forward with ASV Hofstetten, she discovered her true calling after an injury to their regular goalkeeper.

Angerer collected her FIFA Women’s World Cup-winners’ medal in China in 2007 without conceding a single goal throughout the tournament, setting the record for the most consecutive minutes in FIFA Women’s World Cup play without conceding a goal (540 minutes). Her greatest moment in the competition was the penalty save from Brazil’s Marta Vieira da Silva in the final in Shanghai, a game that Germany went on to win 2–0.

InKa grIngSPosition: Centre-forwardBorn: Düsseldorf, 31 October 1978

One of Germany’s most prolific goalscorers, Grings made her international debut in May 1996. Top scorer in German football five times in a decade, she scored a record 38 goals in the 1999/2000 season, and netted 12 in FCR 2001 Duisburg’s 2008/09 UEFA Women’s Cup victory.

Despite missing major tournaments due to injury, Grings won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and a winners’ medal in the 2005 European Championship, where she was top scorer in the competition.

She did not play an international match match from 2005, but made a comeback in 2009, taking just 100 seconds to score in a 1–1 draw against China. Grings was also top scorer in the 2009 European Championship in Finland. To date she has won 83 caps and scored 57 international goals.

FatmIre “lIra” BaJramaJPosition: MidfieldBorn: Istok, Yugoslavia, 1 April 1988

Born in Istok in the former Yugoslavia, Fatmire, or “Lira” as she’s known, arrived in Germany as a five-year-old refugee in 1993. Now the media darling and pin-up girl of German football, she began playing secretly when the family moved to Mönchengladbach, in defiance of her parents who wanted her to do ballet. Her father said that football was for men, but became her biggest fan once he’d seen her play. Since 2007, she has been in a relationship with the Kosovo-Albanian actor and model Eshref Durmishi.

Bajramaj played at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and went on to win the corner that sealed Germany’s 2–0 final victory over Brazil. She currently plays for FFC Turbine Potsdam.

Key PlayerS

“Football is not a sport for women,” said Peco Bauwens, the controversial president of the German Football Federation (the DFB) in 1955. “We will never take this issue seriously.”

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germany at tHe FIFa women’S worlD cUP

1991 ............................................................ Fourth1995 .................................................... Runners-up1999 .................................................Quarter-finals2003 .....................................................Champions2007 .....................................................Champions

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