After 2008, Switzerland organized a European football championship for the second time.
The team of the Swedish selector Pia Sundhage hopes to succeed what men could not do 17 years ago, namely to pass the obstacle of the group phase.
The summer of 2008 was to be a frenzied summer of football. The young team in Switzerland had distinguished herself two years earlier at the World Cup in Germany. But the selection of “Köbi” Kuhn could not take advantage of the advantage of playing at home and was eliminated in the 1st round after two defeats and a victory, ending last in his group behind Portugal, Turkey and the Czech Republic.
Despite this bad final result, these matches remained in the memories. Especially that of opening with the drama experienced by Captain Alex Frei, injured very early against the Czechs. The 2-0 victory against Portugal, already qualified for the quarters, in a last match certainly without stake had appeased the spirits.
All projectors
Seventeen years later, Switzerland puts the cover. This time, she must not share the scene with a co-organizer (Austria in 2008). All the spotlights will be well turned on it from July 2 to 27 for this 14th euro ladies.
Thirty -one matches will be played to designate the successor of England, crowned for the first time at home three years ago, like the Dutch in 2017, by the way. A good omen for Switzerland, except that the Swiss was eliminated from the 1st round during their two previous participations (2017, 2022).
To this are added the bad results in the League of Nations. But after eight matches without victory -then a humiliating 7-1 suffered from Lucerne juniors that the ASF would have liked to hide -, Pia Sundhage’s troop still celebrated a 4-1 success against the Czech Republic during its last test.
Those who bet on a Swiss title will pocket very large in case of success. The host country is classified in the middle of the table by the bookmakers, behind Norway, but in front of Iceland and Finland. Therefore, bettors see Switzerland reaching the direct elimination phase.
A place in the quarterfinals would obviously have nothing of a feat, despite the disappointing results and relegation to the League of Nations. But poor performances against Norway and Iceland, which Switzerland therefore finds at the Euro, hardly encourage optimism.
Parallels with 2008
The opening match against Norway is necessarily of particular importance, all the more at home. A successful departure could trigger the euphoria wave that the men had failed to provoke 17 years ago with this 1-0 defeat against the Czechs.
As in 2008, the Saint -Jacques park will host this opening match – in total, eight stadiums will host the games. As in 2008, it is very possible that Spain triumphs. The defending world champions have the most complete workforce, both in quality and diversity. England, Germany and France are also part of the circle of favorites.
Spectator records
The issue of this euro is however beyond the sporting result. Make women’s football even more visible and draw attention to him is what the organizers, but also the players, expect the final phase. Before the tournament at least, the euphoria is large in Switzerland.
New magazines have been launched, supporter jerseys have been produced, records of spectators have been recorded in the Women’s Super League. More than 570,000 tickets have already been sold out of a total of 673,000. The record of 575,000 spectators, established during the last tournament in England, should therefore fall despite a significantly lower capacity.
Upward bonuses
Despite stadiums that should be able to crack, UEFA expects a large deficit. As Nadine Kessler, Director of Women’s Football of UEFA, announced in Nyon shortly before the start of the tournament, a net loss of 20 to 25 million euros is planned.
This is mainly explained by the more generous amount of premiums, which amount to 41 million euros for nations and participating players. Against 16 million in 2022, and half in 2017. The teams will each receive 1.8 million euros as a starting bonus. If one of them wins all of his matches and the title, the winners will receive a total of 5.1 million euros.
“We are investing more, even if we do not earn money with the European championship, because it is simply the right thing to do,” said Nadine Kessler.
This article was published automatically. Source: ATS
