Switzerland did not ride the wave of its good performances in October. Pia Sundhage’s players were dominated by Germany (6-0) on Friday in a friendly match in Zurich.
The kick-off given by Maddli, the mascot of ‘his’ Euro 2025 presented in the morning in Geneva, did not allow Switzerland to achieve a first success against its German neighbors. In 19 matches, the Mannschaft has now won 18 times (one draw).
Deprived of many players, including captain Lia Wälti, who had an abscess at the start of the week, and young Naomi Luyet, heroine of the victory against France in October, Switzerland only held out for 40 minutes at the start of the week. Letzigrund. The 3-5-2 set up by Pia Sundhage initially made it possible to contain the German attacks well, but the opening score conceded from a corner (40th Nüsken) after a superb tap from Elvira Herzog broke the deadlock Swiss.
The Swiss certainly had a few opportunities to surprise their opponents on the counter-attack when the score was still 0-0. The attacking duo of Alisha Lehmann and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, however, fell just short in the penultimate move.
Fatal changes
The changes made by German coach Christian Wick after returning from the locker room even made the situation worse for Switzerland. The two entrants Pia-Sophie Wolter (passer) and Laura Freigang (scorer) combined twice, 2-0 and 4-0. With six goals conceded in total, the Swiss defense was not up to par, even if it should be remembered that they were playing without their pillar Luana Bühler.
Pia Sundhage’s players will try to re-mobilize in order to end the calendar year on a good note. The task promises to be tough on Tuesday in Sheffield against England (8:45 p.m.), the reigning European champion.
/ATS
Swiss
