Ana Maria Crnogorcevic is currently preparing for the season with Seattle. Nevertheless, she is expected to play a key role in the national team - and set the tone in the recently uninspired offense.
25.02.2025, 05:00
25.02.2025, 06:48
SDA
Ana Maria Crnogorcevic sits in the national team hotel on Saturday morning. She makes a relaxed impression as she looks back on the game in Zurich's Letzigrund just a few hours after the rather disappointing 0-0 draw against Iceland in the Nations League opener.
She is relaxed, but not uncritical in her analysis. The ball circulation was far too slow, the quality of passing was too poor, the necessary sharpness of passing was not there, and there were no changes of rhythm in the design of the game. "If these basics aren't right, it will be difficult against all opponents," says Crnogorcevic, who played as a right winger in coach Pia Sundhage's system.
Familiar role from Barcelona
In this formation with three skilled central defenders, Crnogorcevic and Noelle Maritz on the other side have to perform different tasks defensively and offensively. While they are part of a back line of five, they act as wingers in attack and are expected to create a greater presence in the opposition penalty area with their forays forward.
It is a role that Crnogorcevic played regularly during her time at FC Barcelona. In this respect, she knows the advantages of the 3-5-2 system preferred by Sundhage. Namely, that it should lead to stability defensively and a lot of pressure offensively. "But I've certainly had games where I've had more presence in the penalty area," says the record international (164 games) and record goalscorer (74 goals). In general, the 34-year-old believes it is important for a team to master several systems so that adjustments can be made during a match depending on the opponent or match situation. "We certainly need to become more flexible in this respect."
"Challenged at all levels"
Unlike most of her teammates in the national team, Crnogorcevic is still preparing for the start of the season with her club. The player from Steffisburg has been under contract with Seattle Reign in the North American NWSL since August last year. She has played ten competitive games so far, recording one assist. She is still waiting to score her first goal for Seattle.
But Crnogorcevic is happy on the west coast. She would have had other offers at the time, she says, but consciously opted for the adventure overseas. "I wanted to be in a league where I would be challenged at all levels." She is also thinking of the personal aspect of having to find her feet in a new environment in a new country with a different language. But above all the sporting component.
She says it was great to be part of one of the biggest and most successful teams in Barcelona. But with the Catalans, it was often enough to win even if the players only played to 70% of their potential. "In the USA, the league is much more competitive and balanced. The games are much more intense and everyone has to push themselves to the limit to win."
Good memories of Norway
Crnogorcevic likes this challenge. She has been training with her team since mid-January. Most recently, she was at training camp with Seattle Reign, who have yet to win a championship title but reached the play-off final in 2014, 2015 and 2023. Crnogorcevic, who is primarily deployed on the wing or as a forward by England coach Laura Harvey, took part in the Coachella Valley Invitational, a tournament in the Southern California desert, with her team. The season starts on March 15.
Just a week ago on Sunday, Crnogorcevic was on the pitch for half a game, ran into the shower and straight to the airport so that she could be at the national team reunion on time via Palm Springs and San Francisco. Even if the journey is long and her legs are heavy and tired from the intensive preparation, playing for Switzerland is still a matter close to the heart for the record-breaking player.
The next match is on Tuesday (6pm) in Stavanger, against Norway, who the Swiss last faced at the World Cup in New Zealand and against whom they took a point on their way to the knockout phase with a 0-0 draw. However, a second draw this time may not be enough in their quest to remain in League A of the Nations League.
Crnogorcevic believes that the Norwegians, who will also be Switzerland's first opponents at the European Championship in the summer, tend to be stronger than the Icelanders. "A performance like Friday's will certainly not be enough," she says, but she knows what it's like to win against the Scandinavians. The attacking player even played a decisive role in the penultimate victory in April 2013. The then 22-year-old scored twice in the 3:1 test match victory.
