For former national team player Fabienne Humm and former national team coach Inka Grings, Alisha Lehmann deserves to be in the squad for the European Championship. In the home game, they explain why and reveal how the social media star gets on with the team.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Alisha Lehmann is considered a shaky candidate for nomination for the European Championship squad.
- Lehmann would have earned a call-up for Fabienne Humm (ex-NATI colleague) and Pia Sundhage's predecessor Inka Grings.
- The two are not only convinced of her footballing qualities, but also of her as a person. In addition to all this, Michael Wegmann, Head of Sport blue News, gives another reason why Lehmann belongs in the European Championship squad. "She has incredible reach. If you want to market and push women's football in the best possible way, there should be room for Alisha, who reaches so many people."
The fact that Alisha Lehmann is a star on social media is now well known up and down the country. Millions of fans around the globe follow her on various channels. When she posts a few photos from training on Instagram, as she has done recently, she gets thousands of likes.
And whenever she steps onto the pitch, it gets loud in the stadiums, especially in Switzerland. But it is also a fact that Alisha Lehmann received very little playing time at Italian double winners Juventus Turin last season. So little, in fact, that she also became a shaky candidate for the national team. She was not nominated for the two Nations League games against France and Norway for the second time in a row. She was only called up when a player was injured.
Humm knows Lehmann from their time together in the national team and says: "Alisha is fast, she has a very good shot on goal. As Pia (Sundhage) says: "If you can involve her in the attack, then she's a weapon." And Bachmann's absence through injury has probably also changed the situation a little. Inka Grings, who convinced Lehmann to return to the national team in her role as national coach, agrees: "I believe that she is a great alternative."
"Nothing speaks against Alisha in sporting terms either"
But how do her teammates deal with the fact that Lehmann attracts so much attention? Isn't that a big issue within the team? Humm waves it off: "She's just a normal person, like everyone else. She probably has the least screen time. Anyone who thinks she's on her cell phone all the time has the wrong idea about her."
"She's a very fine person," says Grings. But it was impressive for her to see what it does to the fans when Alisha is there. For Michael Wegmann, Head of Sport blue News, these are two important reasons why Lehmann must be included in the European Championship squad. He also mentions another: "Alisha is popular with her teammates, she can kick and she has incredible range. If you want to market and push women's football in the best possible way, Alisha Lehmann, who reaches so many people, should have a place in the 23-player squad."
That could also be an argument in favor of Lehmann, but ultimately the sporting aspect is of course the top priority, says Grings. "And there's definitely nothing against Alisha."
We will find out whether national team coach Pia Sundhage shares her predecessor's opinion on June 23 at the latest, when she announces the squad for the European Championships starting on July 2.
