Now it’s fixed. At the Women’s European Championship in Switzerland next summer, the Swiss national team will face Norway, Iceland and Finland. These are the reactions.
«I think it’s a doable group. All three opponents are good, but beatable. We can prepare for good games,” explains Noelle Maritz to 20 Minutes. And is it a shame that you avoid all the tough opponents? Maritz: «No. Ultimately you just have to win every game at the European Championships. We had good experiences against Iceland. I hope that we will be the winners in the end.”
«We have an exciting group. We shouldn’t underestimate anyone, but there are certainly opponents against whom we have a chance,” says Lia Kamber to 20 Minutes. The 18-year-old Nati talent recently moved to FC Basel. «I was hoping for a group like this. I’m glad we’re not in a horror group.”
Nati coach Pia Sundhage is happy that the draw is over. «Now we can start working. But we have to do our homework and gain self-confidence. Now we know who we are playing against. Our opponents will play very physical. Norway has some good 1v1 players. We have to adapt to that. We will analyze the teams well and I’m looking forward to that.”
The national team’s sporting coordinator, Johan Djourou, would have liked a more difficult draw. He tells 20 Minutes: “My first thought was: ‘Ah shit!’ Normal. I think it could be worse. It’s a doable group.”
Djourou finds it almost a bit of a shame that Switzerland didn’t end up in a horror group: “Then you have a different motivation. It’s also important that people stand behind the team in such big games. But of course, I’m happy with our group. But it certainly won’t be easy.”
The director of Swiss women’s football had this to say about Swiss Group A: “Nordic, Nordic, Nordic! It’s certainly a good draw. It’s a bit special as we will also have Norway and Iceland in the Nations League. There are 16 strong nations taking part in the European Championship. I don’t think there’s any such thing as ‘luckily we didn’t get X and Y’ at this European Championship. We hope for exciting encounters and lots of fans.”
The coach of the Norwegian national team is also available to answer journalists’ questions: “It’s an interesting group. We also play in the Nations League against Switzerland and Iceland. It will be great to play in Switzerland. I hope there will be a lot of fans from Norway too. But in the opening game the Swiss fans will be in the majority.”
The Finnish national coach is very happy about the draw. «It’s fantastic to have the host in our group. These games are going to be big. I don’t think there will be a team in this group that wins all three games. So it’s going to be tight.”
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