GENEVA (AP) — A stoppage-time goal for Switzerland in a frenetic atmosphere will keep the host-nation buzz going for at least one more week into the quarterfinals at the Women’s European Championship.
GENEVA (AP) — A stoppage-time goal for Switzerland in a frenetic atmosphere will keep the host-nation buzz going for at least one more week into the quarterfinals at the Women’s European Championship.
Switzerland’s frantic wave of late attacks set up substitute Riola Xhemaili to level the score 1-1 against Finland in the second minute of added time in a tense end to Group A. Xhemaili was in the ideal spot in front of the Finland goal to divert a low shot by Géraldine Reuteler that would have drifted wide.
Switzerland only needed a draw to advance, but Finland had taken the lead against the run of play with a 79th-minute penalty by Natalia Kuikka.
Switzerland will now play its first knockout game at a Women’s Euros against the winner of Group B.
That is likely to be world champion Spain, the standout team at Euro 2025 which has scored 11 goals in two games so far.
Switzerland will get a full week of rest, though, to celebrate its achievement before worrying about the next challenge on July 18 in Bern.
The Swiss and Finns were playing for the runner-up spot in Group A as Norway had already secured top spot after two rounds. Norway rested key starters Thursday in a 4-3 win against Iceland, which had already been eliminated.
Swiss attacking strategy
Veteran Switzerland coach Pia Sundhage did not play safely for a draw Thursday. Far from it. She sent on more attackers for the second half, including a forward line of three teenagers.
The 19-year-old Leila Wandeler and 18-year-olds Sydney Schertenleib and Iman Beney stretched the Finland defense and energized the sold-out Stade de Geneve.
Switzerland’s all-time record goalscorer Ana-Maria Crnogorčević went on as right wing-back and made a key block in the center of defense.
The strategy was working and Switzerland dominated the second half until conceding a foolish penalty.
Sundhage’s calm
It was all vindication for Sundhage, the 64-year-old coach who had seemed to be losing the public’s faith in her plans for a young Swiss team after a six-game winless Nations League campaign this year.
When the Swiss goal went in, Sundhage stood calmly next to the touchline as her players and staff leaped off the bench and onto the field.
When the final whistle blew, Sundhage slowly turned to face the fans in the main stand, smiled and held her arms out wide, as if asking: “Well, how about that?”
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AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press