Who can score goals? The national team has a problem - now Sundhage has to get creative

It has long been a problem that the Swiss women's national team lacks a goal scorer. There is not much time left for experiments before the home European Championships, but there are players who could alleviate the problem.

The national team has now played 15 games under Pia Sundhage. Top scorer in this time: Viola Calligaris with three goals. A top score for a defender. At the same time, it is proof that Switzerland lacks a prolific striker.

If you look at the glass half full, you can enjoy 13 different goalscorers in 15 games. Switzerland are unpredictable, which can also be a quality. But it also makes many things more complicated.

National team coach Pia Sundhage"The way we finished, we're not scoring goals"

The problem has not only existed since Pia Sundhage has been on the sidelines. Even under Inka Grings, they lacked a reliable goalscorer. Switzerland scored three goals at the 2023 World Cup: Bachmann scored from the penalty spot, Piubel scored from play (both in the 2-0 win against the Philippines) and an own goal was scored against the eventual world champions from Spain (1:5). In between were two goalless draws against Norway and New Zealand.

What hotfix options does Pia Sundhage have?

Things get serious again on Tuesday against Iceland. If Switzerland lose, it will be difficult to avoid relegation; if they draw, their chances are intact; if they win, they will go into the last two games with an advantage. In view of the Iceland game, a hotfix is therefore needed, a quick solution. Sundhage has the following options.

Géraldine Reuteler: In the national team, she plays in midfield. At top club Frankfurt, however, she is also playing up front this season. That would also be worth a try in the national team. In the league, she has scored 9 goals and assisted 5 in 16 games. There is no better scorer in the Swiss team. She has the self-confidence that a striker needs.

Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic is the record international player (165 appearances) and record goalscorer (74). In the national team, she has played on the wing in recent matches and has failed to impress. The 34-year-old could add a new element with her heading ability.

Ramona Bachmann is not yet at 100 percent, but has already scored 60 goals for the national team. In recent years, she has almost only scored from the spot. But she is still difficult to separate from the ball and could perhaps use her cleverness to score the odd penalty, which she would then ideally convert herself.

Svenja Fölmli is back after two cruciate ligament ruptures and immediately scored a dream goal for Freiburg on her comeback. However, the 22-year-old failed to score in the following six games. She is regarded as a thoroughbred striker and if she heats up at Freiburg in the coming weeks, she could still be valuable for the national team in the summer. But perhaps even sooner.

"A goal like that is also a statement"Svenja Fölmli works her magic again - after two cruciate ligament ruptures, she wants to return to the national team

Viola Calligaris: Sundhage could convert the Juve defender into a striker. Admittedly, it would be a rather adventurous move and the likelihood of it happening is probably close to zero. But Calligaris did in fact play in midfield several times at the start of her national team career and has also played as a striker on more than one occasion - the last time was seven years ago. However, the 29-year-old is undisputed in the national team defense and certainly feels most comfortable there. She is also the top scorer under Sundhage as a defender.

Two further options with a view to the home European Championships

Courtney Strode Liebermann: This is the second option from the "Adventurous" section: a last-minute naturalization. Courtney Strode Liebermann has been married to a Swiss national since 2019 and has been playing in Switzerland for five years. Last season, she scored 19 goals and assisted 7 in 24 games for YB across all competitions. So far this season, she has 13 goals and 4 assists in 21 games. However, a lot still needs to happen for the 26-year-old American to start for Switzerland in the summer. In the case of Stefan Gartenmann, things have also worked out quite well on the naturalization front.

Emanuela Pfister: The 17-year-old youth international scored 9 goals in 11 games for GC in the regular season. So she knows how to score goals. Her big advantage: she could play with complete confidence. But perhaps the European Championship is still a year or two too early for her.

Notes and votes on the defeat against France

Nati scoresFrance show Switzerland their limits - six players fail to score