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Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Behind The Scenes At Euro 2025
On Friday, July 18, 25,000 Swiss fans marched through the nations capital on the way to Stadium Wankdorf to see their country play in its first-ever Euros quarterfinal against Spain. While that match ended in defeat, and the Women's Euro 2025 host's tournament came to an end in Bern, the scenes and passion epitomized the women's soccer awakening that has taken place in Switzerland this summer. So, on this edition of Full Time Euros, it is time to ask what comes next? What will be the legacy of Women's Euro 2025 for Switzerland? And, how has soccer been forever changed in the country?
France 24
2 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Del Castillo and Spain 'full of hope' ahead of Germany Euro 2025 semi
Athenea del Castillo celebrates after opening the scoring for Spain in their quarter-final win over Switzerland at Euro 2025 The Real Madrid attacker, 24, was brought into Spain's starting line-up for their last group game against Italy and scored an early equaliser before her team went on to win 3-1. She was then relegated back to the bench for the last-eight tie against hosts Switzerland in Bern but the game changed after her introduction as a substitute just past the hour mark. Del Castillo replaced Mariona Caldentey and broke the deadlock four minutes later, setting Spain up for a 2-0 victory -- and surely giving coach Montse Tome a selection headache for the clash with Germany in Zurich. "I have to just focus on the things that I can influence. Luckily I am managing to help the team whatever my role is, whether I am starting or not," Del Castillo told AFP at the Spanish team's base in Lausanne. A win for Spain against Germany will keep them on track to add a first ever European crown to the World Cup they won in 2023, when they defeated England in the final. "We are full of hope, we are so excited. We dream of being European champions but to do that we need to win on Wednesday so all our energy is going into that game," Del Castillo said. "We know all about the potential in the Germany team. They are a great side who have been European champions eight times after all." Spain still lean heavily on the players who won them the World Cup, notably Ballon d'Or Aitana Bonmati as well as her fellow Barcelona stars Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes. But Del Castillo, while not yet a guaranteed starter, has become a more important player than during that tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Then, under previous coach Jorge Vilda, she started the team's first match before gradually disappearing from circulation. She then featured in the side that participated in the 2024 Olympics and lost to Germany in the bronze medal match -- a defeat they will seek to avenge on Wednesday. Infectious "We have been through so much together and that has helped us mature as a team," she said on the margins of a training session by Lake Geneva. "I still see myself as one of the youngsters even though there are players much younger than me like Vicky (Lopez) and Maite (Zubieta), and then there are older players like Irene and Alexia who have been around longer and been to so many more tournaments. "We have that mix of youth and experience, of joy but also maturity." Del Castillo is known for her glowing smile and infectious personality, and she has no intention of changing even as she becomes more and more recognisable thanks to her exploits with Spain and Real. "I have not changed much. I still do the same things, I still try to enjoy life and luckily everything is going well at home, with my family and friends," said the native of Cantabria in northern Spain. Athenea Del Castillo (L) in action for Spain against Portugal during the group stage © SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP/File "I am very happy in Madrid -- I prefer the north but I like Madrid as a city. I love to go out for a wander, listen to music, be with my family. "If I changed what I did off the pitch that would also change me on it and I don't like that because then I would lose my essence." Despite still being at a relatively tender age, the player who idolised Cristiano Ronaldo growing up now has over 60 caps and is conscious of being a leader in the Spain squad. "I know how to differentiate between moments when you have to work and times when you can give a little bit of joy," she said, before suggesting that the side has improved since losing to Germany at last year's Olympics. "I think we have matured a lot since then. We are better at controlling games in different moments now. I think that will help us, but it will above all be about staying calm and focusing on our objective." © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Switzerland's fans are on the march. Can they ensure the game really is ‘here to stay'?
It is barely 7pm in Bern and a vexed motorcyclist revs his engine. It is angry and, honestly, in vain. Because there is no crossing this thick red-shirted river, and there is certainly no stopping it. There are almost two hours to go until kick-off and the mile perimeter around the Wankdorf Stadium is cordoned off, a momentary Switzerland dominion for the Euro 2025 host's quarter-final against Spain. A crimson placard screams from the fan march: 'Here To Stay.' At the risk of spoiling the ending, the hosts do not stay in Euro 2025. Spain beat Switzerland 2-0, Aitana Bonmati eventually prising open Switzerland's dogged defence in the 66th minute to feed Athenea del Castillo. That this game demanded two moments of pure brilliance surprised some. Spain are world champions; Switzerland qualified for their first major tournament a decade ago. The latter had never escaped the group stages — until now. The 15,000-strong Swiss fan march moves north towards the stadium purposefully, but slowly. Much in the same way that the locals here drift down the River Are, content to be swept up, knowing sometimes it is better not just to be in the present but to lose yourself in it, before having to eventually clamber to shore. So beers are toasted. Chants sung. A brass band quartet erupts into song while sitting atop some aesthetic-looking Swiss rocks. Even the queues for the portaloos — growing around corners — endure their wait with inexplicable fulfilment. Before kick-off, the Wankdorf is ear-splitting, each home player's name met with acclaim. When Spain's Mariona Caldentey drags her penalty wide in the eighth minute, a beer is released into the sky, and from there, all inhibitions are gone. As the half-time whistle blows with the score at 0-0, Spain head coach Montse Tome's brow is furrowed. The noise inside the stadium is deafening. At times, it is beautiful. At others, it is beautifully furious: at Laia Aleixandri's inexplicable escape of a second yellow card in the first half, at the penalty awarded to Alexia Putellas (also missed). Finally, at their journey suddenly ended. For Jennifer Dinges, the reality is dizzying. One of the three co-founders of the Switzerland Women's fan group alongside Celine Plee and Amy Owen (their friendship formed over their mutual appreciation of the former Arsenal and Switzerland international Malin Gut), Dinges recalls a Swiss Women's fan march last year involving a couple of hundred people, if that. 'No structure, no order,' she says. Over the past three years, the international matches she attended vacillated in supporters between 1,000 to 7,000. Before the European Championship, the trio knew change was paramount. They lobbied former Swiss FA head of women's and girls' football Tatjana Haenni for advice. 'She told us just to do it (the fan march),' Dinges says. 'If it picks up, which it would, people would follow.' They have. Nearly 5,000 turned out to watch Switzerland's open training sessions in the days leading to Friday's quarter-final. The 32,000-capacity Wankdorf was sold out. While Switzerland is a country that knows how to relish the present, considering the future has never been more critical. Records have been shattered here. The previous record aggregate group stage attendance (369,314) set at Euro 2022 was beaten by the end of matchday two, eventually totalling 461,582. A new record cumulative quarter-final crowd was set on Friday at 78,407, with another game in this round still to go. For a federation jeered for being too small to host the European Championship during the bidding process in 2022, such numbers are validation. But there is also the potential for a longer-lasting impact. 'Conservative' was the word Haenni used to describe the nation's historic relationship with women's football, a simple enough word carrying heavy baggage — from the outright banning of the sport in the 1920s to hostility towards women who defied it and eventually an apathetic acceptance of its existence. 'To actually see a Swiss country, which is quite reserved, make this kind of fun, follow women's football like this…' Dinges drifts off. Because for someone who was once one of a few hundred singing the anthem in an echo, the sentence has no clear end. Neither does this movement. Ensuring it is positive relies on harnessing the imagination that has so obviously been captured here. England provide a compelling blueprint. After hosting, and winning, Euro 2022, women's football enjoyed exponential growth in the country. According to its Football Association (FA), by 2024, 129,000 more girls became involved in school football across the host cities. Another 34,025 more women and girls were participating in football for recreational purposes, plus a further 10,356 playing competitively. The total attendance during the 2022-23 Women's Super League (WSL) season surpassed 680,000, 172 per cent higher than the 2021-22 season. For a nation still without a professional domestic league (the Switzerland Women's Super League operates as semi-professional), such growth is ambitious but not out of the equation. The Swiss FA launched a project looking to the future, which runs to the end of 2027. Targets are set to double the number of girls and women playing football in Switzerland from 40,000 to 80,000 by 2027, with the number of women working as coaches and referees also to be doubled from 2,500 to 5,000. There are also aims to at least double the number of the league's consumers (TV viewers and social media followers). But its main ambition is precisely that which was burned into a crimson-painted 2×2 cardboard placard. To stay. To maintain the present in the future. 'People showing up afterwards, like England,' says Dinges. 'That's the dream.' At full time, the stadium remained flooded in red, fans applauding the players as they made their way around the pitch. For now, they are staying. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Switzerland, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Group stage of Women's Euro 2025 sets attendance records
The group stage of Women's Euro 2025 in Switzerland was the highest-attended in the tournament's history, breaking the previous record from 2022. UEFA confirmed that a record-breaking 461,582 people attended the 24 games, surpassing the 357,993 that watched in England three years ago. The 24 matches were held across eight different cities, with 22 of the games sold out, while the average attendance was 19,233 spectators per match. UEFA confirmed some other records broken across the two weeks include: Highest attendance at a group stage match not involving the host nation (broken twice): 29,520 Spain vs Portugal in Bern; 34,165 Germany vs Denmark in Basel. Most fans at a women's football match in Switzerland: 34,165 Germany vs Denmark in Basel. Most away fans at a Women's Euro match: More than 17,000 from Germany in the stands to see their team defeat Denmark. Most fans at a Switzerland women's national team match: Switzerland vs Norway in Basel on the opening day, 34,063. On the pitch, the 89 goals scored was also the highest ever in the tournament's group stage, surpassing the 78 scored in 2022. Spain matched England's group stage record of 14 goals, a feat the Lionesses achieved in 2022, where they went on to win the tournament. Wales and Poland made their Euro 2025 tournament debuts, with Wales' Jess Fishlock making more history in the process by becoming the oldest goalscorer in Women's Euro finals history at 38 years and 176 days. UEFA's women's football director Nadine Kessler said: 'If it was not clear before, it is undeniable now – women's football is unstoppable and here to stay. 'Before a ball was even kicked, over 600,000 tickets were sold – a record-breaking milestone that speaks volumes about the growing passion for the women's game. 'Nearly every match has been a sell-out, with electric atmospheres and fans turning out in unprecedented numbers. Millions more are following the action around the world through social media and live broadcasts. 'This is more than a tournament; it's a movement, and the response from across Europe and beyond proves that women's football is not only here to stay – it is setting the new standard.'
CNA
4 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Swiss women win fans' hearts with joyous Euro journey
BERN :Long after the final whistle in Switzerland's defeat to Spain that ended their Euros, fans chanted and sang the praises of a squad that electrified the host nation. For more than two weeks "La Nati", as the women's national team is affectionately known, captivated Switzerland with red-shirted fans thronging sold-out stadiums to see them qualify for the knockout stage of the Euros for the first time. They battled bravely in their quarter-final before succumbing 2-0 to reigning world champions Spain. "We had tears in our eyes. I think when everyone saw us, it was a bit emotional," Swiss captain Lia Waelti said of walking out for the quarter-final. "We never dreamed of it, and what happened here in Switzerland in the last two weeks is unbelievable. It's a dream and we really enjoyed it to the fullest." After opening with a 2-1 defeat by Norway, Switzerland bounced back to beat Iceland 2-0 before grabbing a stoppage-time equaliser in a thrilling 1-1 draw with Finland to progress to the last eight as runners-up in Group A. Though Spain were the better team in their quarter-final, the well-organised Swiss harried and harassed them all over the field. It took Aitana Bonmati's superb back-heel, setting up Athenea del Castillo, to finally breach their defence in the 66th minute, with Claudia Pina adding a second five minutes later. "I'm very, very proud," the 32-year-old midfielder Waelti told reporters. "I think we did everything that was in our power - we fought, we kept the ball as long as possible. It's not easy against Spain. They have incredible quality on the pitch." At the final whistle, the Swiss fans raised their voices even further to show their appreciation, and such was the respect of the Spanish players that they formed a guard of honour for the Swiss team as they left the field. An hour later, Swiss fans of all ages outside the stadium stood pressed up against a metal barrier, hoping for one last glimpse of the team that catapulted women's football into the national consciousness as the players boarded the team bus for one final journey back to their base. Asked about her favourite memory from the tournament, an emotional Waelti pointed to the opening game against Norway as a special occasion before offering a broader perspective. "Every moment together with the fans. Every moment we could see how many people we actually brought on our side to support us. To see that is so, so special and it's something we've never dreamed about," she said.
