Maren Meinert

Maren Meinert

Meinert during a testimonial in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Maren Meinert [1]
Date of birth	(1973-08-05) 5 August 1973 (age 52)
Place of birth	Rheinhausen, West Germany
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder, forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–2000	FCR 2001 Duisburg [a]
2000–2001	FFC Brauweiler Pulheim
2001–2003	Boston Breakers	59	(24)
International career
1991–2003	Germany	92	(33)
Managerial career
2005–2019	Germany U19
2006–2018	Germany U20
2018	Germany U16
2025	Germany
Medal record Women's football Representing   Germany Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Team competition
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Maren Meinert (born 5 August 1973) is a German football coach and former player who played as a midfielder and striker. She was most recently the head coach of Germany women's national under-20 football team.

As a player, Meinert played for German clubs FCR Duisburg and FFC Brauweiler Pulheim, as well as Boston Breakers in the United States. She also represented the Germany women's national football team.

Club career

Meinert was the first player inducted into Boston Breakers' "Pillars of Excellence" during a ceremony held at half-time of the 17 May 2009 game between the Breakers and Washington Freedom. ^[2]

International career

Meinert played for the German national team between 1991 and 2003, making appearances at three FIFA Women's World Cup finals and the 2000 Summer Olympics. ^[3]

Germany won the 2003 World Cup. She scored the first goal in the final against Sweden.

Management career

Meinert coached various German youth national teams for the German Football Association (DFB) from 2005 to 2019. ^[4] In 2018, the DFB asked Meinert to become head coach of the Germany women's national football team after dismissing Steffi Jones, but she turned down the opportunity for personal reasons. ^[5] Less than a year later, the DFB surprisingly chose not to extend Meinert's contract. ^[6]

After her departure from the DFB, Meinert was linked to many high-profile positions, including the head coach position at the Irish national team and the assistant position at the United States national team. ^[7]

Honours

Playing honours

FC Rumeln-Kaldenhausen

• Hallenmasters: 1995

FCR Duisburg

• Frauen-Bundesliga runners-up: 1997
• DFB-Pokal Frauen: 1998

Germany

• FIFA Women's World Cup
  • Winners: 2003
  • Runners-up: 1995
• Olympic Games bronze medal: 2000
• UEFA Women's Euro: 1995, 1997, 2001

Individual

• Women's United Soccer Association Most Valuable Player: 2003

Managerial honours

Germany

• FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
  • Winners: 2010, 2014
  • Runners-up: 2012
• UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship: 2006, 2007, 2011

Individual

• Felix Coach of the Year: 2010

General honours

• Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia

Notes

1. Previously known as FC Rumeln-Kaldenhausen before the 1997–98 season

References

1. Maren Meinert at Olympedia
2. Civin, Todd. "Maren Meinert Inducted into Breakers' Pillar of Excellence". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
3. "Maren Meinert Biography and Statistics". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
4. "DFB TO PART WAYS WITH MAREN MEINERT". DFB. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
5. Hellmann, Frank (29 July 2019). "Abschied ohne Schleifchen: Maren Meinert muss gehen". Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
6. Hellmann, Frank (28 July 2019). "Maren Meinert: "Ich kann da nicht immer nur ein Schleifchen drum machen"". Women Soccer. Retrieved 27 November 2019.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
7. Goff, Steven (24 October 2019). "U.S. Soccer expected to name USWNT coach soon". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

External links

• Maren Meinert – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Maren Meinert at DFB (also available in German )
• Maren Meinert at WorldFootball.net
• WUSA player profile