Her boyfriend makes sacrifices National team striker Piubel: "Now you can see what men can do for women"

Seraina Piubel moved from FC Zurich to West Ham United in the summer. At the national team camp in Pfäffikon, the 24-year-old reveals why London is a dangerous place for her and what her boyfriend sacrificed for her.

At the end of September, Seraina Piubel signs a contract with West Ham United until the summer of 2027. Initially, the 24-year-old hardly gets any match practice and is therefore not called up for the international matches against Australia (1:1) and France (2:1) at the end of October. She was naturally disappointed, as she always wanted to be involved. However, she used the time to settle into her new home and get to know her new club better. However, she followed the national team matches and was proud of what her team-mates had achieved.

Piubel has since earned herself a regular place at West Ham and will therefore be allowed to join the national team camp on Monday. This is despite the fact that she still has room for improvement. She recently narrowly missed out on her first Premier League goal. She recently shot wide of the goal from point-blank range. How upset was she by this incredible miss? "Yes, my big chance against Brighton," Piubel recalls with a grin on her face, revealing that she has long since digested the whole thing. "It was annoying," she says. "It would have been nice to score the first goal in the league. But that's part of football." She proved that she has scoring qualities at the beginning of October in the Cup in a 6-1 win against lower-ranked Portsmouth. She shone in that game with a goal and an assist.

"I'm mega happy in England"

Piubel's move from FCZ to West Ham has not only changed her place of residence, but also her everyday life. "I'm super happy in England. The club and the team have also made it extremely easy for me. I arrived there really quickly. The most important and best thing is that I'm now a full-time professional and I'm on the pitch and training every day. Now that I have that, I really realize what a privilege it is." She has "zero regrets" about not taking the step abroad earlier. In the summer, after winning the Women's Super League Player of the Year award, she really felt ready for the adventure abroad.

Piubel lives in Stratford, which is very central. This kind of luxury was important to her, which is why it took her a month and a half to find something suitable. "If I'm already living in London, then I have to get something out of it," says Piubel. "Now I'm super happy and have fully arrived." But of course, she didn't move to West Ham to be lazy. She also finds training with the team and the fitness sessions in the gym "extremely enjoyable". Compared to her time in Zurich, everything is completely different.

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"I thought I'd probably have a lot of free time as a professional, but I'm wrong," she says and laughs. "I get up in the morning and go to the area and train." And then again: "At the moment, I'm still excited when I can watch London. You'll never see everything, but I think it's a city for me. A dangerous city." (laughs) What makes it so appealing? "The city is simply alive. You see all sorts of things and there are stores everywhere. And that's why I say it's dangerous for your wallet."

Of course, it helps that she doesn't have to pay the rent for the apartment on her own. Because, as Piubel reveals, her boyfriend moved to London with her. Thanks to his cosmopolitan company, which allows him to work from home. In January, he will probably also start "tschutting" somewhere. In Switzerland, her boyfriend played for YF Juventus in the 1st League Classic. "He quit because of me. Now you see, even men can do that for women," says Piubel, laughing out loud.

Piubel on her progress after the switch

She feels that she has already made progress in England, which she attributes primarily to the conditions. "It's just a completely different load. I mean, here in Switzerland I sat in the office all day and then went into training. In the evening I was completely exhausted and in the morning I had to get up again at 6am. It's just completely different. At West Ham, you finish at 4pm and then you can just regenerate and do something to switch off. That's extremely important. Then you're 100 percent ready to train again the next day."

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What is also new is that she no longer feels like she is coming off the pitch as a winner every weekend, as she is currently in second-last place with West Ham. But Piubel doesn't just see this as a negative: "I fought for the title for years, now I have to make sure I stay in the league. I think that's experience you can gain. It's a different kind of pressure that you have to be able to deal with. So it's good to experience this perspective." And she is confident that they will move even further away from the bottom of the table.

The media interest and spectator crowds are also completely different in England. While there is only sparse coverage of the league in Switzerland and the games can usually only be seen in the depths of the internet in uncommented live streams, the BBC offers the full program with all the highlights, analysis and expert voices in the program "The Women's Football Show" after every match day. Piubel's debut almost left her speechless as she appeared in front of well over 10,000 fans at the away game against Manchester United at the venerable Old Trafford. According to figures from "weltfussball.com", the average number of spectators at the Heerenschürli, the home ground of the FCZ women, which is fenced in with poisonous green bars, is 403 this season.