The Swiss will meet world champions Spain on Friday evening (from 9 p.m. in the live ticker at T-Online). The roles before the kick -off is clear: the Spaniards are considered favorites. But the late balance of Switzerland against Finland in the last group game sparked great hopes in the country.
UEFA director Nadine Kessler demands more games in large arenas in view of the viewer response at the women’s European Championship. “People deal with tickets, try to get some somehow into the stadium,” said VfL Wolfsburg’s former European champion in a conversation with the German Press Agency (dpa). “We simply have to put the bar again every time, also set signs with larger stadiums – and also fill them again.” Women’s football is “absolutely” ready.
The largest arena at the European Championship in Switzerland is the 34,250 spectator St. Jakob-Park in Basel. The final will also take place there on July 27th. The smallest stadium is in Sion (7,750). The German Football Association (DFB) selected 2029 Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Wolfsburg for its European Championship application.
“22 of the first 24 matches were sold out. This is a rarity in women’s football so far, even at a World Cup,” said Kessler after the preliminary round.
The Swiss footballers go handicapped in preparation for their quarter-finals at the home European Championship. Three days before her knockout game on Friday in Bern against world champion Spain (9 p.m. in the T-Online live ticker), the training of the hosts failed. According to the association, the reason for this is that several players have a cold.
The Swiss Alisha Lehmann and her teammates did not train on Tuesday.
“Five players are affected – with mild to moderate symptoms. It is important to mention that only the upper airways are affected. So nobody suffers from fever or coughing,” team doctor Martin Schober told Swiss television (SRF). The sick players would now be separated from the rest of the team to avoid infection.