Maren Meinert

{{short description|German football coach and former player (born 1973)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Maren Meinert

| image = Maren Meinert 2012 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Meinert during a testimonial in 2012

| full_name = Maren Meinert{{Olympedia}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1973|8|5}}

| birth_place = Rheinhausen, West Germany

| height = 1.73 m

| position = Midfielder, forward

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = {{0|0000}}–2000

| clubs1 = FCR 2001 Duisburg{{efn|Previously known as FC Rumeln-Kaldenhausen before the 1997–98 season}}

| caps1 =

| goals1 =

| years2 = 2000–2001

| clubs2 = FFC Brauweiler Pulheim

| caps2 =

| goals2 =

| years3 = 2001–2003

| clubs3 = Boston Breakers

| caps3 = 59

| goals3 = 24

| totalcaps =

| totalgoals =

| nationalyears1 = 1991–2003

| nationalteam1 = Germany

| nationalcaps1 = 92

| nationalgoals1 = 33

| manageryears1 = 2005–2019

| managerclubs1 = Germany U19

| manageryears2 = 2006–2018

| managerclubs2 = Germany U20

| manageryears3 = 2018

| managerclubs3 = Germany U16

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{fbw|GER}} }}

}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Civin |first1=Todd |title=Maren Meinert Inducted into Breakers' Pillar of Excellence |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/177782-maren-meinert-inducted-into-breakers-pillar-of-excellence |website=Bleacher Report |access-date=18 May 2020}}

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.{{cite web |publisher=Sports-Reference.com |title=Maren Meinert Biography and Statistics |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/maren-meinert-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417222638/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/maren-meinert-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |access-date=4 May 2010}}

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

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
class="wikitable"
1.	3 July 1993	Stadio Alfiero Moretti, Cesenatico, Italy	{{fbw\|DEN}}	align=center\|1–1	align=center\| 1–3	UEFA Women's Euro 1993
2.	26 March 1995	Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany	{{fbw\|SWE}}	align=center\|1–1	align=center\| 3–2	UEFA Women's Euro 1995
3.	30 June 1997	Melløs Stadion, Moss, Norway	{{fbw\|ITA}}	align=center\|1–0	align=center\| 1–1	UEFA Women's Euro 1997
4.	23 June 2001	rowspan=2\| Steigerwaldstadion, Erfurt, Germany	{{fbw\|SWE}}	align=center\|3–1	align=center\| 3–1	rowspan=2\| UEFA Women's Euro 2001
5.	27 June 2001	{{fbw\|RUS}}	align=center\|3–0	align=center\| 5–0

Management career

Meinert coached various German youth national teams for the German Football Association (DFB) from 2005 to 2019.{{cite news |title=DFB TO PART WAYS WITH MAREN MEINERT |url=https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/dfb-to-part-ways-with-maren-meinert-201950/ |access-date=27 November 2019 |publisher=DFB |date=3 May 2019}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Hellmann |first1=Frank |title=Abschied ohne Schleifchen: Maren Meinert muss gehen |url=https://www.fr.de/sport/fussball/maren-meinert-abschied-ohne-schleifchen-12868292.html |access-date=27 November 2019 |publisher=Frankfurter Rundschau |date=29 July 2019}} Less than a year later, the DFB surprisingly chose not to extend Meinert's contract.{{cite news |last1=Hellmann |first1=Frank |title=Maren Meinert: "Ich kann da nicht immer nur ein Schleifchen drum machen" |url=https://www.womensoccer.de/2019/07/28/maren-meinert-ich-kann-da-nicht-immer-nur-ein-schleifchen-drum-machen/ |access-date=27 November 2019 |publisher=Women Soccer |date=28 July 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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.{{cite news |last1=Goff |first1=Steven |title=U.S. Soccer expected to name USWNT coach soon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/24/us-soccer-expected-name-uswnt-coach-soon/ |access-date=27 November 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=24 October 2019}}

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

References

External links

{{FIFA player|169639}}
{{DFB}}
{{WorldFootball.net}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20031004010030/http://www.wusa.com/players_coaches/players/maren_meinert/ WUSA player profile]

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Category:1973 births

Category:Living people

Category:German women's footballers

Category:Germany women's international footballers

Category:FCR 2001 Duisburg players

Category:Frauen-Bundesliga players