Topics: Football, Womens Football, Switzerland
As preparation for a major summer international tournament goes, losing to a junior club team in a friendly is a long way from ideal.
Switzerland's women's team did exactly that last week and the 7-1 scoreline against FC Luzern's under-15 boys team has been described as 'humiliating' and a 'thrashing' despite being the result of an unofficial warm-up game played in three sections of 30 minutes.
Pia Sundhage's team were also beaten by the under-15 side of FC Solothurn but the run-out against Luzern, which was played behind closed doors and intended to be kept under wraps, grabbed headlines because a player involved shared some footage on his TikTok account.
Women's Euro 2025 will be played in Switzerland next month and, while they're not quite among the favourites, the hosts have an experienced squad packed with players familiar with the highest levels.
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Arsenal's Lia Walti, Aston Villa defender Noelle Maritz and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic of Seattle Reign all have many more than 100 international caps and Maritz's former Villa teammate, Alisha Lehmann, is one of the most famous faces in the Switzerland squad as they get ready to try and upset the odds on their own turf.
But the Juventus forward was also one of the players who appeared in the offending TikTok video, which has since been deleted.
Lehmann says the team has 'nothing to prove' and that their physical preparation is on track.
"As a team, we ignore that and concentrate on what we can influence," she said. "Today, we don't have the time to analyse scientific studies."
A Swiss Football Association spokesperson sought to ease the inevitable criticism, stating that:
"It's not uncommon in women's football to compete against junior teams. The goal: to bring a certain competitive element. The focus during this phase of preparation is on the physical aspect. Regardless of the result, these training matches are very similar to our international matches in terms of intensity and mileage."
Lehmann has been an international since 2017 and won the double in her first season in Italy after leaving Villa last summer.
She will expect to be in Sundhage's line-up when Switzerland take on Norway in Basel on Wednesday.
