When the general manager of the WUSA’s Boston Breakers compared his star, Maren Meinert, to Larry Bird, she was perplexed.
“I didn’t know very well who Larry Bird was,” Meinert said, “so I was like, `What does he mean by that? Is it good or bad?”‘
It meant a U.S. sports fan should think of the Boston Celtics legend to understand what makes Germany’s Meinert so good on a soccer field.
Bird had a cosmic understanding of his sport and the otherworldly skills to execute his vision in a game. Those are exactly the terms used to describe Meinert, whom Norway coach Age Steen calls the best women’s player in the world.
None extol Meinert more thoroughly than the U.S. players who must find a way to stop her in Sunday’s World Cup semifinal at PGE Park. For example:
“The way Maren plays, you can tell she grew up with the game, not only playing it, but watching it,” said U.S. midfielder Kristine Lilly. “She is so smart.”
“She is the quintessential soccer player, able to do everything,” said U.S. goaltender Briana Scurry. “Good players have one move, great players have two, legends have three, and Maren has at least three in her repertoire.”
“She understands the game, and she has all the tools,” said U.S. superstar Mia Hamm. “She serves different types of balls. Her two goals against Argentina were clinical finishes. One was an off-balance volley from the end line. The other she cut back with her right foot and bent left-footed around the keeper.”
No wonder other German players quickly got over their initial snit when Meinert, 30, announced in late August she would play in the World Cup. She had been retired from the national team since winning a third European title in 2001.
“I think if you retire, you should stay home,” she said. “But the German soccer association and the coaches made me think I could make the team a better team and that it would be great for the women’s soccer program in Germany if the team was successful here.”
Even knowing how much Germany needed her does not stop Meinert from being surprised by U.S. players’ expressions of esteem. After all, she had worried about being good enough to make the team after joining the Breakers in 2001.
“It makes me proud and a little nervous,” she said. “In Germany, no one says nice things like that to me. I’m just not a famous player in Germany. Coming to the WUSA made my game better.”
For Meinert, a forward who calls herself “very, very right-footed” and more a passer than a scorer, the left-footed goal against Argentina seemed to sum up the improvement.
“Maren has an idea what to do with the ball well before she gets it,” said U.S. coach April Heinrichs. “Her head is always on a swivel.”
Meinert changed her mind about playing for the national team after a 2003 WUSA season in which she was voted the league’s most valuable player and its All-Star Game MVP.
She already had planned to retire from the Breakers and return to Germany before the WUSA folded last month. Meinert was tired of being separated from her husband of five years, Andreas Guido, who works for a German construction company in their hometown of Duisburg.
“It’s a great thing for soccer and her team she decided to come back and play in the World Cup,” Scurry said.
Meinert’s playmaking (six assists) and forward Birgit Prinz’s scoring (six goals) have made Germany the tournament’s highest-scoring team, with 20 goals in four matches. Now they meet the tournament’s stingiest defense, which has allowed just one goal in four matches.
This is the third time the U.S. and Germany have played in a Women’s World Cup knockout round. The U.S. won 5-2 in the 1991 semis and 3-2 in the 1999 quarterfinals en route to becoming champion.
“We’ve played pretty good so far, but we didn’t have a strong opponent yet,” Meinert said. “We will have to wait until Sunday to know how good the German team is. Our players have to grow up–don’t just play good against Russia, Canada and Japan, do it against a good team.
“We must have confidence and show it on the field. In the last [World Cup] game with the U.S., we almost asked for an autograph after the game. We had too much respect. We had the lead at halftime (2-1). In the second half it was like, `OK, please score twice, and we are going home. This is your World Cup. Don’t worry about us.”‘
No matter what happens here, Meinert will retire after the World Cup. Germany’s performance in the tournament has earned it one of the two 2004 Olympic spots for Europe, but she says not even the lure of playing in Athens will sway her.
It is time, she said, to teach physical education to children at a sports club, perhaps to start a family. She will start working in Germany immediately after the World Cup ends.
“I must get on with my life,” she said.
World Cup semifinals
U.S. vs. GERMANY
Series record: U.S. leads 12-3-2 (U.S. 6-0-1 since 3-1 loss in 1997).
2003 World Cup: U.S. 4-0 (12 goals for, 1 against); Germany 4-0 (20-3).
World Cup record: U.S.–champion, 1991 and 1999; 3rd, 1995; Germany–4th, 1991; 2nd, 1995; 8th, 1999.
World Cup meetings: U.S. 5-2 in 1991 semifinals; U.S. 3-2 in 1999 quarterfinals.
Coaches: April Heinrichs (U.S.); Tina Theune-Meyer (Germany).
Players to watch: U.S.–F Mia Hamm (9), F Abby Wambach (20), D Cat Reddick (4); Germany–F Birgit Prinz (9), F Maren Meinert (14), M Bettina Wiegmann (10).
Keys to match: German confidence. “We don’t know how good we are; the U.S. knows it is good,” said Prinz, the tournament’s leading scorer with six goals. Meinert’s playmaking is critical. Germans must neutralize Wambach, the U.S.’ most valuable player and its leading scorer so far with three goals. “We tried to take her out of the [attack] box, like you would in ice hockey, but she is very difficult to stop,” Norway coach Age Steen said. Germany has a tourney-leading 20 goals, but U.S. goalie Briana Scurry has allowed just one in her last 6 1/2 Cup matches, dating to halftime of the 1999 semifinal with Germany.
SWEDEN vs. CANADA
Series record: Sweden leads 6-0-1 (1-1 tie came in March).
2003 World Cup: Sweden 3-1 (7 goals for, 4 against); Canada 3-1 (8-5).
World Cup record: Sweden–3rd, 1991; 5th, 1995; 7th, 1999; Canada–DNQ, 1991; 10th, 1995; 12th, 1999.
World Cup meetings: None.
Coaches: Marika Domanski-Lyfors (Sweden); Even Pellerud (Canada).
Players to watch: Sweden–F Hanna Ljungberg (10), F Victoria Svensson (11), M Malin Andersson (9); Canada–D Charmaine Hooper (10), F Christine Sinclair (12), G Taryn Sviatek (20).
Keys to match: Hooper, 35, once a high-scoring forward now playing defense, is the hard-nosed stabilizer for a Canadian team with six players from its surprise silver medalists at the 2002 under-19 world championships. The youngsters include Sinclair, 19, who has 42 goals in 55 national team appearances, including two in the World Cup, and Kara Lang, 16, a starting midfielder. Sweden is waiting for a breakout game from the tourney’s most dangerous attack duo, Ljungberg and Svensson, but the team has steadily gotten better since a poor first half in its opening 3-1 loss to the U.S.
— Philip Hersh
