The Swiss women's national team can look back on a very successful campaign. Coach Pia Sundhage tries out a lot - and is rewarded for her courage.
The clocks at the Stade de Genève read 10.56 p.m. when Silvia Gasperotti brought the whistle to her mouth on this autumnal Tuesday evening and brought an end to a match that many people will remember for a long time to come. The Italian referee's final whistle seals the Swiss national team's 2:1 victory over France.
It was 22 years ago
It may have been a test match, but a look back shows that it is anything but an everyday occurrence for an SFA team to come out on top against the Equipe tricolore. The last time the women's senior national team achieved this was 22 years ago.
Pia Sundhage says she will remember this moment for a long time to come, when her biggest victory as Switzerland's national coach finally came. The Swede sits in the belly of the Geneva stadium and gives an insight into her emotional world. She mentions the emotions - not only at the final whistle, but also in the 54th minute, for example, when she and the majority of the almost 11,000 fans were amazed after Naomi Luyet's spectacular shot to make it 2:1.
Sundhage stood on the edge of the pitch with her arms raised and clapped her staff. Everyone was happy for the 18-year-old from Valais, who scored her first goal for Switzerland in her fifth international match.
Emblematic Luyet
The Young Boys player is a symbol of this national team and the ideas that Sundhage has for her players. At her club, Luyet mainly plays up front, while in the national team she played at left-back against Australia on Friday (1:1) and against France on Tuesday.
Actually, says Luyet, she prefers to play a little further forward. "But so far what the coach has come up with has worked quite well." In this formation, Sundhage has mainly had Switzerland play in a 3-5-2 formation, which requires the players on the outer positions, like Luyet, to play in a defensive five-man line.
The 64-year-old hopes this will create more compactness and stability in defense. A plan that certainly worked against the French, as Sundhage noted that her team did not concede much. She says: "I gained a lot of confidence today, and so did the players."
Precisely because she can see that her ideas harmonize with this Swiss team, and that with this starting position even seemingly superior opponents can be beaten. Both Meriame Terchoun and Viola Calligaris mention that the team has grown together in recent months and that the balance is right between young players like Luyet or Iman Beney and experienced players like captain Lia Wälti or the forward duo Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic and Ramona Bachmann. "The mix is perfect at the moment," says Calligaris.
More rock'n'roll
Pia Sundhage is a passionate singer, so she likes to draw analogies to music when she talks about football. Because despite the pleasing defensive compactness - she would sometimes like to see a little more "rock'n'roll", as she calls it, in the offense. In other words, faster switching, more dynamism, more chances. But Sundhage is a satisfied national team coach on this evening. "We've already made great progress compared to the Nations League."
There are now two more test matches against Germany (in Zurich) and European champions England (in Sheffield) in a month's time. In view of this prestigious success against France, Sundhage is asked at the end whether she would like the European Championship to start tomorrow rather than on July 2. She smiles and says: "No, we need more time, but we can draw on the experiences of tonight for a long time to come."
SDA
