Germany's Neid on stepping down, World Cup

During Germany's long domination of international women's football, Silvia Neid has been a constant.

Making her debut in 1982, Neid helped them win their first European titles in 1989, 1991 and 1995 before retiring as a player. Appointed assistant coach to Tina Theune, Neid contributed to three more UEFA Women's EURO wins and victory at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, not to mention continental and global triumphs in charge of the Under-19 team. In 2005 Neid took the senior helm herself, retaining the World Cup in 2007 and European crown in 2009 and 2013.

That reign comes to an end in summer 2016 when Steffi Jones will replace Neid, set to assume a role heading the German Football Association (DFB)'s new women's scouting department. As she leads Germany at the World Cup finals from Sunday, hoping to make up for losing the title four years ago on home soil, Neid speaks to UEFA.com about her decision to step down and their chances in Canada.

On her time as coach ...

It's a nice job, a dream job actually. I have decided to stop now, not because of my 11 years as national coach but because I was already assistant coach for nine years before that and for nine years I was responsible for the youth teams. And before that I played for the national team for 14 years. So in total, we're talking about 34 years of Silvia Neid and the national team. I simply wanted to do something else.

On Nadine Kessler's injury ...

You can't do anything about it, and it doesn't make any sense to be sad. You have to take it as it is, you cannot change it and you must do your best to deal with the situation in the little time you have left. That is my motto and we will do it that.

On World Cup group opponents Norway, Thailand and Ivory Coast ...

You don't need to say much about Norway, runners-up at the last EURO, a strong team. They have shown that recently, with a lot of young players who not only play long balls forward but try combinations as well. They are very strong in the individual battles and play well at the back.

Ivory Coast – an African team, we know that their players are technical and very robust in the tackle, and they are very quick. It's always difficult to play against African teams.

Thailand are also a newcomer, they are certainly a team that we need to show a lot of respect for, because they are technical like the other Asian teams. When a World Cup starts, all the teams deserve to be there and you need to take them seriously and there is determination to make up for our 2011 exit ...

On her World Cup aim ...

Our goal is to stay in the tournament as long as possible. But I couldn't say that we will reach the semi-finals or that we will become world champions – the path is way too long and we are taking it step by step.