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Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Do the Swiss care about Women's Euros? I went to find out
When I stepped off the plane in Zurich on Monday evening, there was little evidence that a European Championship was about to begin in just two days' time. But by the time Nadine Riesen had put Switzerland 1-0 up against Norway on Wednesday night, it was as though the country had woken up to the fact they were hosting a major tournament. There were queues outside the main fan park in the centre of Zurich, although the area is small, and it was standing room only inside. It was semi-lively but not quite electric. There was hardly a rousing atmosphere when the national anthem was played and there seemed to be more excitement in what I assumed to be a karaoke box, where one woman chose to sing Simply The Best as the game was kicking off. For those not wishing to stand in the fan zone for 90 minutes, there are several bars and even cafes showing the games on the approaching street, which has been re-named the 'Walk of Emotions' for the tournament. I headed to Kennedy's Irish Pub, which was full, and the reaction to Riesen's goal was more one of surprise than pure joy. The locals appeared to be there to watch the game, but they did not seem to be massively engaged or glued to the screen. There was certainly no chanting. Most people were having conversations in their groups and occasionally glancing up to the screen to see what was happening. When Ada Hegerberg equalised shortly after half-time, there was minimal reaction. There was brief silence when Julia Stierli scored an unfortunate own goal to put Norway ahead, a small cheer when Hegerberg put her penalty wide and then two minutes later when Switzerland thought they had a penalty of their own, before it was ruled out by VAR for offside. It is hard to know whether there is a different atmosphere when the men's national team are playing and or if the Swiss just watch football differently to how we do in the UK. After all, Switzerland is hardly a hotbed for men's football, never mind women's football. Riesen, who scored the opening goal, is the player who seems to be on most of the advertisements along with Arsenal's Lia Walti, the team's captain. Alisha Lehmann, who only just made the squad, would have been the traditional poster girl for the tournament but she is more widely known for her social media presence than her football. Lehmann has 16.7 million followers on Instagram. Riesen, by comparison, has 17,700. What is certain is that if Euros buzz is to truly take hold, Switzerland will have to progress to the knockouts and that is not guaranteed. Their results in the past year have been far from impressive and defeat in their opening game, though it was probably the toughest they will face, was not a good way to start. 🇨🇭🏆EUROS DIARY - DAY 3 🕺Fan fever begins 🏨Grand Hotels 🚠Gondola adventures — Kathryn Batte (@KathrynBatte) July 2, 2025 When England fans and supporters from other countries descend on Zurich in the coming days and weeks, perhaps there will be more excitement. It would be wrong to say there is apathy among locals towards the tournament and, indeed, the atmosphere in the stadium in Basel looked far more thrilling than it was on the streets of Zurich. It does not yet appear that the Euros has gripped the Swiss nation but there is still time. If they can qualify for the quarter-finals it is possible that more people will sit up and take notice. But, for now, Euros fever is still waiting for lift-off.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Sport
- Arab News
Hosts Switzerland beaten 2-1 by Norway in their Women's Euro opener
BASEL, Switzerland: Switzerland took the lead against Norway but fell to a 2-1 defeat on home soil after scoring an own goal on the opening day of the Women's Euro 2025 Championship on Wednesday, with Norwegian captain Ada Hegerberg netting the equalizer and missing a penalty. The hosts had plenty of opportunities to grab what would have been a famous victory but the Norwegians dug deep to snatch a narrow win, their third over the Swiss by a single goal in 2025. Having lost to the Norwegians twice in the Nations League this year, the home side dominated the opening 45 minutes and Geraldine Reuteler came close to giving them the lead in the 24th minute with a shot that cannoned back off the crossbar before Nadine Riesen struck four minutes later to send the St. Jakob-Park Stadium into raptures. Riesen reacted quickly to an attack that broke down, rattling the ball past Vilde Boe Risa and off the near post into the net to send the Swiss fans at St. Jakob-Park into raptures. However, it was a different story after the break and it was Norway's Hegerberg who turned the page. After barely featuring in the first half, she leveled nine minutes into the second with an emphatic header from a corner that briefly silenced the home crowd and four minutes later, under pressure from Hegerberg, Switzerland's Julia Stierli turned a low cross from Caroline Graham Hansen into her own net. Reuteler was sparkling throughout for the Swiss but despite a number of golden chances, she could not get the goal both she and her team deserved, and she conceded a penalty which Hegerberg missed in the 70th minute. Switzerland were awarded a spot-kick of their own that was overturned after a VAR review and, as the Swiss poured forward, the Norwegians hung on grimly for a victory that puts them top of Group A, with Finland second after their 1-0 win over Iceland earlier in the day. 'This was important, this means a lot for us... the goal was euphoria for me but it was damn important for the team as well,' Hegerberg told Norwegian broadcaster TV2. 'It is very strong of us to manage to turn it around. It may not happen in the prettiest way. We were told forcefully during the break that we did not run enough, then we saw two clips, a defensive and offensive, about how to take them, I think we managed to do that,' vice-captain Graham Hansen said. Swiss coach Pia Sundhage was unhappy that her side did not manage to get more out of the game. 'I think it's very heavy, a defeat like that. Our game plan was good and we even scored a goal... today it's tough but tomorrow we'll see a smile and start working,' she told broadcaster SVT.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Swiss stumble but Sundhage rallies Euro 2025 hosts
"This is once in a lifetime, it will never come back."Switzerland head coach Pia Sundhage had been unequivocal in her pre-match news conference as she urged her players to "embrace the pressure" of their opening game as Euro 2025 when it came to it, the Swiss did not get the win they so badly craved in Basel as their first major women's tournament on home soil began with a 2-1 defeat by highly experienced Sundhage knows all about leading a host nation on a big stage, having taken charge of Sweden on home soil at Euro 2013, something she described as "one of my best years".This time her Switzerland team threw away a 1-0 lead and fell to defeat in cruel fashion, with defender Julia Stierli's unfortunate own goal settling the Hegerberg had cancelled out Nadine Riesen's opener barely four minutes before Stierli steered a low cross into her own made the Swiss the first Women's Euros hosts to lose their opening match, but hope still remains that they will reach the knockout tournament was not kickstarted with pre-match pyrotechnics or anything flashy. Instead the opening ceremony in Basel was playful and entertaining as performers danced with silver tubes before a giant Women's Euros trophy was formed in the centre circle, surrounded by flags of all the 16 countries competing in players seemed to take the burden of expectation in their stride early on, playing on the front foot. They dominated two-time European champions Norway in the first half at a sold-out St Jakob-Park, but they could not see the job whether her players embraced the pressure, Sundhage said: "Oh yeah. I have never seen that kind of locker room previously and at the hotel before we left."Step by step, the best part is it's different players that use their voice. We were prepared. I talked to them after the game and it's so important to use your language and your body language and words as well after defeat because we still have a chance to play the quarter-final."That is the message now - Sundhage wants her side to make the most of their remaining Group A games against Iceland and Finland."We start with Iceland and if we play a good game then we put ourselves in a good spot," she said."Be responsible for what you say, what you do and how you behave, because that is the best thing for the Swiss national team and the Swiss people." The Swiss people played their part on day one of the tournament, and the overwhelming feeling around Basel on the opening day of Euro 2025 was of fans turned out to march to the stadium together, walking 45 minutes from the city centre in sweltering may have been high, but so was the Swiss were men and women, boys and girls, almost all wearing red shirts and embracing the excitement of hosting the prestigious sang, chanted and rang cow bells all the way. Locals hung out of their balconies to join in the celebrations and there was a real feel-good appointment in 2024 brought huge excitement, with the former Sweden and Brazil boss one of the most respected and experienced figures in the women's went into Wednesday's games with a modest seven wins in 18 games as Switzerland boss, but there was still plenty of goodwill towards her and the team from fans spoke of how hosting Euro 2025 felt like a "new era" for women's football in Switzerland, while others said the nation just wanted to get behind their team to push them over the line, rather then criticise tactics and party atmosphere continued into the ground, with Swiss fans loving every minute of their moment on the big though the result was not what they wanted, the fans never wavered and stuck by their team. 'Euros can be great moment to kickstart change' An official attendance of 34,063 was announced on Wednesday - a big step for women's football in were selected to host Euro 2025 in a bidding process which saw them beat Poland, France and a joint bid from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and head of women's football Nadine Kessler said Switzerland were the underdogs in the bidding process and challenged them to "make something out of it".Switzerland want to replicate England's success as hosts three years ago and hope Euro 2025 can be a springboard to help grow their domestic women's Swiss Women's Super League is not yet professional. Attendances have risen in the build-up to Euro 2025 and Young Boys set an attendance record of 10,647 in March, but last season's average attendance across the league was just issues surrounding infrastructure, accessibility and pay, there is the sense that Euro 2025 could be the turning point that Swiss women's football needs."Right now, women's football isn't in a great place in Switzerland," journalist Helene Altgelt told the BBC."The league is severely underfunded, most teams aren't professional, many teams aren't playing in a real stadium so there is no actual stands. This is unacceptable for women's football in 2025."The federation has realised this and now the Euros can be a great moment to kickstart that change and ensure women's football is going to be professional and more girls can live their dream of actually living by playing football and not having three side hustles or studying."The Swiss Football Association has implemented an ambitious legacy programme that hopes to double the number of girls and women playing football in Switzerland from 40,000 to 80,000. It also hopes to double the number of coaches and increase attendances in the league by Sundhage said, this moment will never come back, but the signs are positive that women's football can grow significantly in Switzerland.A win or ideally two from their team over the next week, however, would go a long way to making sure of that.
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Hosts Switzerland beaten 2-1 by Norway in their Women's Euro opener
BASEL, Switzerland :Switzerland took the lead against Norway but fell to a 2-1 defeat on home soil after scoring an own goal on the opening day of the Women's Euro 2025 championship on Wednesday, with Norwegian captain Ada Hegerberg netting the equaliser and missing a penalty. The hosts had plenty of opportunities to grab what would have been a famous victory but the Norwegians dug deep to snatch a narrow win, their third over the Swiss by a single goal in 2025. Having lost to the Norwegians twice in the Nations League earlier in the year, the home side dominated the opening 45 minutes and Geraldine Reuteler came close to giving them the lead in the 24th minute with a shot that cannoned back off the crossbar before Nadine Riesen struck four minutes later to send the St. Jakob-Park Stadium into raptures. Riesen reacted quickly to an attack that broke down, rattling the ball past Vilde Boe Risa and off the near post into the net to send the Swiss fans at St. Jakob-Park into raptures. However, it was a different story after the break and it was Norway's Hegerberg who turned the page. After barely featuring in the first half, she levelled nine minutes into the second with an emphatic header from a corner that briefly silenced the home crowd and four minutes later, under pressure from Hegerberg, Switzerland's Julia Stierli turned a low cross from Caroline Graham Hansen into her own net. Reuteler was sparkling throughout for the Swiss but despite a number of golden chances, she could not get the goal both she and her team deserved, and she conceded a penalty which Hegerberg missed in the 70th minute. Switzerland were awarded a spot-kick of their own that was overturned after a VAR review and, as the Swiss poured forward, the Norwegians hung on grimly for a victory that puts them top of Group A, with Finland second after their 1-0 win over Iceland earlier in the day.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Hegerberg leads Norway to opening 2-1 win over host nation Switzerland at Euro 2025
BASEL, Switzerland — Norway star Ada Hegerberg led her team to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over host nation Switzerland despite missing a penalty in their opening game at the Women's European Championship on Wednesday. The home team dominated the first half and went ahead in the 28th minute when Nadine Riesen capitalized on some pinball-machine Norwegian defending to score in off the left post. Hegerberg equalized against the run of play with a header to Vilde Bøe Risa's corner in the 54th, four minutes before Switzerland's Julia Stierli scored an own goal trying to stop Caroline Graham Hansen's cross for Hegerberg. But Hegerberg – the all-time Women's Champions League top-scorer – sent her penalty to the left of the post in the 70th after Géraldine Reuteler was penalized for hand ball while trying to defend against the Lyon star. Reuteler had sent the ball crashing off the crossbar for the dominant Swiss in the first half. Switzerland was awarded a penalty after Hegerberg's miss only to have the decision overturned after a VAR review for an offside call. The game — the second of the tournament after Finland's 1-0 win over Iceland — was preceded by the Euro 2025 opening ceremony. Dancers used long silver tubes in a carefully choreographed performance that paid tribute to Switzerland's clock-making heritage and Alpine landscape. UEFA said the modest ceremony celebrated 'the pinnacle of European team spirit' while emphasizing 'diversity, unity and the triumph of women's football on its greatest stage.' ___ AP soccer:
