Inka Grings

Inka Grings (born 31 October 1978) is a German former international footballer who played as a striker.

However, after no tennis club had accepted her, she instead started playing football at TSV Eller 04 in 1984.

She later played for Garather SV.

Grings made her debut for the Germany national team in May 1996 against Finland.

In 1998, Grings won the German Cup, her first major title.

She scored three goals in the final against FSV Frankfurt.

The following year in the 1998–99 season she became the Bundesliga's top-scorer for the first time.

Grings was named Women's Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 1999, 2009 and 2010.

She is the manager of Switzerland national team after previously coaching FC Zürich Frauen in the Swiss national league.

As a child, Grings wanted to be a tennis player.

Grings was named Women's Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 1999 by the country's sports journalists.

She won the Bundesliga title with Duisburg in the 1999–00 season; that year she also set the all-time record for goals in a Bundesliga season by scoring 38 goals.

She appeared for Germany at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, scoring three goals.

However, Germany was eliminated in the quarter-final.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal with the German team, scoring once against Australia in the group stage.

Grings' career, particularly at international level, has repeatedly been affected by injuries.

She played sixteen years for FCR 2001 Duisburg before joining FC Zürich Frauen.

She also played for the Germany national team.

Grings is the second all-time leading goalscorer in Germany's top division, the Frauen-Bundesliga, with 195 goals and claimed the league's top-scorer award for a record six seasons.

Playing for Germany, she was the top-scorer at two UEFA European Championships.

Grings signed with FCR 2001 Duisburg in 1995.

She quickly became an important player for the club and in the following years one of the most successful goalscorers in Germany.

She missed the 2001 European Championship on home soil and the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup due to injury.

When she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee shortly before the 2004 Summer Olympics, Grings initially announce to end her career.

However, she changed her mind during physical therapy.

With four goals, Grings was the top-scorer at the 2005 European Championship, when Germany claimed its sixth European title.

At the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics, Grings was not part of the German squad, because of disagreements with head coach Silvia Neid.

Grings was the Bundesliga top-scorer for three years in a row from 2008 to 2010 and was again voted Women's Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 2009 and 2010.

She ended her contract at Duisburg one year early in an agreement with the club and announced transferring to an international club.

She won the German Cup on two more occasions in 2009 and 2010, and lifted the UEFA Women's Cup in the 2008–09 season.

She returned for Germany at the 2009 European Championship, claiming her second European title.

With six goals Grings again was the tournament's top-scorer.

Over the next decade, Grings became the Bundesliga all-time leading goalscorer, hitting the mark of 350 goals in January 2011.

On 1 September 2011 she joined Swiss side FC Zürich Frauen.

In the first season she won the championship as well as the cup.

In May 2013, Grings signed with the Chicago Red Stars for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League in the United States alongside Sonja Fuss.

On 4 August 2013, she scored a brace against Seattle Reign FC helping the Red Stars win 3–1.

Grings was on the starting lineup in 14 of the 16 games in which she played for the Red Stars and scored three goals on the season.

The Red Stars finished the 2013 season sixth in the standings with an 8–6–8 record.

She was waived by the Red Stars in September 2013.