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Not for fair-weather footballers: The women's national team's final training session.
Switzerland play their final group match of the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday. In Northern Ireland, the aim is to create the best possible starting position for the play-offs with another win. But not everything is going well in the preparations.
On Friday, the Swiss women's national team celebrated a 6:1 victory over Malta at the stadium opening of the AIL Arena in Lugano. It was the perfect evening of football: stadium, pitch, fans, weather - everything was just right.
Four days later, Switzerland played away against Northern Ireland, but not at Windsor Park, the national stadium, but at Mourneview Park, which opened in 1895. Although the stadium was renovated several times between 1992 and 2011, you wouldn't know it at first glance. Standing on the edge of the pitch is proof that the earth is a sphere.
Nevertheless, Nadine Riesen and Rafel Navarro are in high spirits on the day before the game. A journalist connected online has not muted the microphone, it hurts his ears. Navarro comments dryly, but with a mischievous smile on his face: "Red Card!"
Media manager Giorgio Iacovazzo (left), Rafel Navarro and Nadine Riesen also answer the questions of the journalists connected online.
Keystone
Riesen is also in a good mood, but when asked about her future, she blocks it out coldly. "I know what I'm going to do," says the 26-year-old, who is leaving Eintracht Frankfurt after three years. She simply had the feeling that it was the right time to leave her "comfort zone" and take "the next step". That's all you can squeeze out of the national team player, no matter how many times you try. In the end, she says: "I'd like to answer questions about the Northern Ireland game. You'll find out everything else then."
Asked about the Northern Ireland game, Riesen then makes a fighting statement. "We want to win the game by at least three goals. And we want to keep a clean sheet at the back, that's my aim as a defender."
However, this is not a sure-fire success, as a look at the games of the current campaign shows. Northern Ireland may have lost 2-0 to Switzerland in their World Cup qualifying opener, but they have never conceded more than two goals in a match since. And they clearly won both games against Malta with an aggregate score of 8:2.
So why this brash challenge? With the win against Malta, the national team has already secured group victory before the last matchday, but that's not all that matters. There is also an overall ranking of all the teams in League B - and this is important when it comes to drawing the play-off pairings. Switzerland currently occupy second place, but with Finland's help it would still be possible to overtake Portugal. If the game in Finland ends in a draw, a win with a three-goal difference would be enough for Switzerland to climb to the top of the table.
Let's hope that what happened in Lurgan on Monday afternoon was not a bad omen. Because shortly after the press conference, the mood is still great. Nadine Riesen grabs an SRF microphone on the sidelines to conduct a flash interview with Rafel Navarro. A few meters away, goalkeeping coach Nadine Angerer throws herself into yoga poses and suddenly lets out a loud whoop as she feels a slight pinch somewhere. Johan Djourou, who is standing right next to her, is rolling with laughter.
Nadine Riesen interviews her coach.
Keystone
A few minutes later, just as the first player steps onto the pitch, it starts to drizzle. A few moments later, when the last players step onto the pitch, it is already pouring with rain. And the picture becomes even bleaker. Although the Swiss proved against Malta that they can score goals, the only question is whether those who are available can also do so. Aurélie Csillag (1 goal) did not even travel to Northern Ireland, while Sydney Schertenleib (1 goal) and Riola Xhemaili (2 goals) were also missing from the final training session.
