Iman Beney (in a duel with Basel's Antonia Baass) shines as a strong attacking player with YB
Image: Keystone
Luana Bühler enjoys Sundhage's trust, but is struggling for minutes in London
Image: Keystone
Viola Calligaris is also not a starter for Juventus Turin
Image: Keystone
Lia Wälti is the captain of the Swiss national team and the linchpin of the European Championship hosts' game
Image: Keystone
Smilla Vallotto plays in Sweden and is a regular scorer
Image: Keystone
Pia Sundhage will be keeping a close eye on her potential European Championship participants over the next few weeks
Image: Keystone
Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic is one of the figureheads of the Swiss national team and will be in action in the USA from March 15
Image: Keystone
Elvira Herzog is one of the Swiss players who is a regular in her club
Image: Keystone
Sydney Schertenleib, FC Barcelona hopeful, is elegant and efficient on the ball
Image: Keystone
Iman Beney (in a duel with Basel's Antonia Baass) shines as a strong attacking player with YB
Image: Keystone
Luana Bühler enjoys Sundhage's trust, but is struggling for minutes in London
Image: Keystone
Viola Calligaris is also not a starter for Juventus Turin
Image: Keystone
Lia Wälti is the captain of the Swiss national team and the linchpin of the European Championship hosts' game
Image: Keystone
Smilla Vallotto plays in Sweden and is a regular scorer
Image: Keystone
Pia Sundhage will be keeping a close eye on her potential European Championship participants over the next few weeks
Image: Keystone
Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic is one of the figureheads of the Swiss national team and will be in action in the USA from March 15
Image: Keystone
Elvira Herzog is one of the Swiss players who is a regular in her club
Image: Keystone
Sydney Schertenleib, FC Barcelona hopeful, is elegant and efficient on the ball
Image: Keystone
In three months' time, the women's national team will begin its preparations for the European Championship. Until then, many of the players want to recommend themselves to their clubs. A form check of the players who have recently been called up.
04.03.2025, 05:00
04.03.2025, 07:38
SDA
Goal: plenty of match practice for Herzog and Peng
In November last year, Elvira Herzog was officially named the national team's number 1 goalkeeper by coach Pia Sundhage. The Zurich native, who turns 25 on Wednesday, has also taken on the role of regular goalkeeper in Leipzig and has played in all 15 Bundesliga matches to date. Although the Saxons cannot quite keep up with the top trio of Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, Leipzig have established themselves in fifth place in the midfield of the 12-team league. The first match since the national team break is scheduled for Saturday. Leipzig will host Wolfsburg.
Livia Peng has also established herself as Werder Bremen's number one in Germany. Like Herzog, she has scored four times in 15 appearances in the league this season. And the Grisons native, who turns 23 in ten days' time, has even conceded one fewer goal than her national team rival with the north Germans, with 24. Nevertheless, nothing will change in the Swiss goalkeeping hierarchy for the 2024 European Championship. But it's good that Herzog's backup also has plenty of match experience.
Defense: Bühler and Calligaris struggling
In the national team, Luana Bühler is an important part of the defense and with her experience, the 28-year-old plays a leading role. It's a different story at Tottenham. In the summer of 2023, the Lucerne native moved to London after five years at Hoffenheim, taking the next step in her career. This season, however, Bühler has only made four appearances in 15 league games for Spurs, who are seventh in the English Super League and have no relegation worries or championship dreams. Her last 90-minute appearance came on January 19.
Viola Calligaris leads the Serie A table with Juventus Turin. The 28-year-old is also a substitute. In 19 league games, the player from Obwalden has only made six appearances. The defender was not in the squad for the opening game of the final round of the best five teams on Sunday, the Poule Scudetto, against AS Roma.
Noelle Maritz has been in England for some time now. After three and a half years at Arsenal, the 29-year-old is now in her second year at Aston Villa. And at the club from Birmingham, the player from eastern Switzerland is usually a regular. She has only missed three league games this season. However, the Villans are in second last place in the Super League and are involved in the relegation battle.
Lara Marti is an integral part of the Leipzig defense. The 25-year-old has only missed one game so far, mostly coming off the bench. The Basel left-back has been in the starting line-up six times.
Nadine Riesen also alternates between the bench and the starting line-up in Frankfurt. The St. Gallen defender has only made three full-time appearances this season, has been in the starting line-up five times and has been substituted six times.
Julia Stierli is a regular in central defense at Freiburg, and the 27-year-old has only once failed to make an appearance for the Breisgau side, who, like Leipzig, occupy a mid-table position in the Bundesliga. In the national team, however, the player from Aargau was only able to convince to a limited extent in the most recent group game.
Midfield: Ivelj takes advantage of the showcase
Cologne are not having an easy season in the Bundesliga. Cologne have only won once in the league. However, Alena Bienz played a decisive role in this victory. In December, the Lucerne native scored her first goal of the season against Potsdam to secure a 1-0 win against the bottom team. The 21-year-old midfielder is a regular starter and has only missed one game so far.
Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic is preparing in Seattle for her second season in the USA, which starts on March 15. The 34-year-old plays in a more offensive role at the club than in the national team. However, the Steffisburg record international is still waiting for her first goal overseas.
Naina Inauen still has to wait for her debut in the national team. She is currently preparing for the championship with her Norwegian club Lyn. A week-long training camp in Salou, Spain, will help her put the finishing touches to her game before the Oslo-based team gets underway in just under three weeks' time.
Noemi Ivelj is a Grasshoppers regular and has only missed one game this season. This match practice has obviously also convinced Pia Sundhage. The national team coach recently played the 18-year-old midfielder in the Nations League against both Iceland and Norway.
Sandrine Mauron is a mainstay at Servette-Chênois. The 28-year-old midfielder has scored three goals and provided two assists for the Geneva side this season. The 44-time international came on as a substitute for the national team against Norway.
Smilla Vallotto has now been playing for top Swedish club Hammarby for a year and a half, and the 20-year-old is a regular in the Stockholm club's attacking midfield. The Damallsvenskan season kicks off at the end of March. Last season, Vallotto scored 5 goals and made 13 assists in 26 appearances.
Lia Wälti has now been under contract with Arsenal for six and a half years, and the 31-year-old has almost the same role in the Londoners' midfield as she does in the national team - she is practically indispensable. The Emmental native has only missed one game for the Gunners, who sit third in the Super League, eight points behind leaders Chelsea.
Striker: Premiere for Schertenleib
Ramona Bachmann is currently preparing for the season in the North American NWSL with Houston Dash. Last season, the 34-year-old made twelve appearances for the Texans and scored two goals. In the fall, the Lucerne native lost her place in the starting lineup.
The Super League in Switzerland resumed at the weekend, and Iman Beney could hardly have got off to a better start on Saturday. The 18-year-old scored after five minutes to give Young Boys the lead against Thun, and in the end it was 6:2 for the Bernese side, who remain third, level on points with top duo Basel and Servette-Chênois. Beney is the star striker in the team of interim coach Rolf Kirchhofer, who is standing in for Imke Wübbenhorst during her maternity leave. The player from Valais has now scored six goals in the league this season.
Aurélie Csillag is the main striker for Super League leaders Basel. And the 22-year-old has had a perfect start to the championship. In the 2:1 win against Grasshoppers, the Zurich native scored the 1:0, her second goal of the season.
Alayah Pilgrim is a supplementary player at AS Roma. The 21-year-old has made one appearance in the Serie A starting line-up this season and scored her first goal in Italy against Sampdoria in November. The striker was substituted at the weekend in the defeat against Juventus.
Seraina Piubel plays regularly for West Ham. The 24-year-old has scored once in the league so far, and in the Cup she equalized in the quarter-final against Tottenham (2:1) at the end of January.
Together with Iman Beney, Sydney Schertenleib is one of the hopes in the national team's attack. The 18-year-old took a risk by moving from GC to Barcelona, one of the strongest teams in the world. But it seems to have paid off. Schertenleib has scored three times in the Catalan side's second team so far, but the Zurich native also regularly features in the star ensemble of the national team. Schertenleib was in the starting line-up for the first time on Sunday in the 8:1 win against Eibar and played throughout. And in mid-February, she scored her first goal in the Primera Division against Madrid (5:1).
Meriame Terchoun is a regular feature in Dijon's attack. The 29-year-old from Zurich has scored three goals so far this season in the French championship, in which the team from the mustard metropolis is in fourth place behind Lyon and the two Parisian teams.
Alisha Lehmann, Naomi Luyet and Géraldine Reuteler, who have also been regulars in Pia Sundhage's squad of late, were absent through injury for the latest round of fixtures.
