The Swiss “Nati” breathes easier after the 2-0 win against Iceland at the women’s European Championship. The team has triggered a wave of euphoria in their own country and now wants to write football history. The discounts of the past few weeks seem forgotten.
“Switzerland in the Freudentaumel” – So begins An article in the “Blick.ch” media portal To the game and victory against Iceland on Sunday evening. Compared this sentence with the scenes in the stadium, which took place after the final whistle of the Spanish referee Marta Huerta de Aza, then you can get to the impression: Yes, the whole Swiss football nation is just happy after the first victory at the home tournament.
The fans in the stands raised their arms and cheered, on the field the goal scorers Géraldine Reuteler and Alayah Pilgrim hugged their teammates as firmly as possible – and trainer Pia Sundhage also showed unusual emotions.
At first she heard her coaching team, then she celebrated the victory in the circle of the team on the lawn. “First class, just first class”said the 65-year-old from the “look” about the mood in the stadium and the wave of euphoria in the country. “I didn’t believe that the Swiss population can create such an atmosphere.”
Harmony after the victory: coach Pia Sundhage in the circle of her players.
Little is played together in play with Switzerland
On closer inspection and when listening to the many interviews after the game, it quickly became clear what the emotional outbreak was really at short before 11 p.m.: Pure relief for everyone involved. Because despite a performance in the first European Championship game, which was convincing over long distances, it was clear after the unfortunate defeat against Norway (1: 2) that another slip against Iceland had to be avoided.
On the one hand, the sporting survival of the Swiss team at the European Championship was at stake, and on the other hand, on the other hand, but also the European Championship mood in the host country. And that was clearly noticed over almost the entire season in Bern: Switzerland played hard in a playful way, but with a lot of effort and fighting spirit, the urgently needed victory was achieved.
Wälti: “With the goal, every load has fallen off”
“I’m totally relieved. With the first goal, every load fell off your shoulders”captain Lia Wälti admitted in the Sportschau interview. “Now I’m enjoying the moment.” The pressure that the team feel at the home tournament is “Highly high and not to describe. This is something that we have never experienced in our career”she said to the “look”.
Lia Wälti (right) is convinced: “Now everything is possible.”
For Reuteler, who broke the spell a quarter of an hour before the end of a very torn game, the victory against Iceland was a will of the entire team. “It was an exhausting game, it cost a lot of strength. But we believed that we could win this game until the end”she said at the sports show microphone.
Loud discounts around the “Nati” before the start of the tournament
It seems that the Swiss “Nati”, as the national team is called, find just in time and finally forms a unit. Because a few days before the tournament started, hardly any positive reports had been heard and read. A high 1: 7 defeat in a test game against a U15 boys team from Lucerne ensured mockery and ridicule, especially on social media.
The trainer Sundhage from Sweden was criticized – her was accused of hard training, a lack of tactical plan and deficits in dealing with the players. “It rumbles in the whole ‘Nati’ team”the “Blick” wrote at the end of June. The squad composition also gave rise to discussions.
The European Championships came twice after the preliminary round
Switzerland fans waited in vain for good news, with a view to the preliminary round they had to fear the worst. But now – despite the performance that is not completely convincing against Iceland – the skepticism is more and more confident that this can really achieve this by the “Nati” goal: the third European Championship participation should finally be reached for the first time.
In 2017 in the Netherlands, Switzerland was eliminated with four points from three games after the preliminary round – the only win was achieved against Iceland. And three years ago in England, the group was too busy with the Netherlands and Sweden, only against Portugal did a tie.
The players move pictures of the fan march
So that things go better this time, the EM organizers have drummed up in their own country in recent weeks to spark the necessary enthusiasm for the national team. And the fans deliver: According to official information, over 14,000 people during the fan march went through Bern to the stadium before the game against Iceland.
They ensured a national record and outstanding pictures that the players did not leave either: “Before every game, we say that we want to absorb it, but also want to give something back to everyone. It feels like we were twelve players on the pitch”said Nadine giantly asked the “Blick” on the videos of the fan march. Wälti said she had tears in her eyes when she saw the pictures in the cabin before the game.
Sundhage: “Quarter-finals Would be fantastic “
The tension and tension on all sides will now reach its boiling point on the third and last preliminary round game: On Thursday (9 p.m., in the live ticker on sportschau.de), the Swiss “Nati” will meet Finland in Geneva. A tie is enough to stay in the tournament.
“With our fans in the back and the upswing that we have earned, everything is now possible”said Wälti. It now applies to bundle the forces and prepare optimally. And trainer Sundhage also hopes that their players in Switzerland will be able to write football history for Switzerland: “That would be fantastic. Not only for us, but for the whole country, because the development of women’s football here cannot be stopped.”
Captain Wälti, who has been suffering from knee problems for a long time, goes to this big goal of the team significantly above her own pain limit, as she revealed in conversation with “Blick”: “The pain is gone from the national anthem. (…) If it starts, there are no more excuses. Then I want to give everything for the team to be successful.”