Defeated but convinced Swiss women
The Obwalden woman would have liked to have been awarded a penalty.
“That was the question we were asking ourselves. Would the pressure of this match eat away at us or would it boost us? In the end, it gave us a lot of energy. It was magnificent. You can't even imagine what it feels like to play in front of such a crowd. The whole stadium was dressed in red and supported us. It gave us a lot of strength, and I hope it will be the same for the next matches in Bern and Geneva.”
Like her teammates, frustration dominated Viola Calligaris's words after the match. There was, however, a hint of pride and joy at having been there. The 29-year-old Obwalden native still savored this start to the European Championship in Switzerland, or at least the early evening in Basel, where her team barely managed until around 10:10 p.m.
For about fifty minutes, the Swiss players played high up the pitch, harassing the Norwegians and their Ballon d'Or winner, Ada Hegerberg. A grueling pace, which they ended up paying for, with a fair amount of bad luck. "The first half was tough, really," explained the Juventus defender. "There was a certain intensity... Luckily, we often had the ball, and it's always better to run with it than afterward."
And then there was the start of the second half, where everything collapsed in four minutes. "Fatigue didn't help," Calligaris continued. "But we're going to work, we're definitely not going to give up. We're a team, and we showed that on the pitch too. We're truly united, together." So we'll have to digest it. Physically, but especially mentally. Because that's three straight defeats against Norway, who have never seemed superior.
And then there's also the whole emotional charge surrounding this entry into the competition... "It was beautiful. After everything that happened and what was said in recent weeks, I still think we gave a good response to all that. We can be proud of the way we played. If we continue like this, I think the results will be very, very different in the next matches."
It was up to the Bernese team to face Iceland, and the Geneva team to face Finland, to push these women who are eager to win. Convincing them, that was achieved Wednesday evening.
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