Switzerland keep Euro 2025 dream alive after Reuteler and Pilgrim knock out Iceland

The Guardian

2 days ago

Iceland will be leaving the party early but, after some initial wobbles, the hosts are still going strong. A quarter-final place beckons for Pia Sundhage's Switzerland after second-half goals from Géraldine Reuteler and Alayah Pilgrim finally settled a nation's nerves.
Providing Sundhage's players do not stumble against Finland on Thursday in Geneva they should be on course to finish behind Norway in Group A and on course for a potential last-eight date with Italy or, more probably, Spain.
Ultimately the night belonged to Switzerland and their excellent right-wing back Iman Beney in particular but Iceland almost scored inside the first minute when Ingibjörg Sigurdardóttir's half-volley struck the crossbar following her connection with a long throw.
Almost immediately, a Swiss counterattack concluded with Julia Stierli shooting wide as heavy rain began lashing down on Berne. After more than a week of glorious Swiss summer sun, the heatwave seemed over and suddenly players from both sides were slipping and sliding on the pitch. From his vantage point on the edge of the technical area, Iceland's manager Thorsteinn Halldórsson was forced to keep wiping raindrops off his glasses.
The veteran Sundhage is far too experienced to get wet needlessly and from her proffered vantage point sitting deep in the dugout she watched her team whip a corner in and Svenja Fölmi head goalwards.
When the ball hit Glódis Viggósdóttir it flew into the back of the net and, almost everyone bar the 2,000 Iceland fans present in a near 30,000 crowd at a packed Stadion Wankdforf celebrated wildly. Or at least until VAR intervened to correctly disallow that effort for a foul in the preamble, namely Fölmi's overly aggressive block on Viggósdóttir.
By now things had turned thoroughly niggly and scrappy. Far too many cheap concessions of possessions, snide fouls, substandard set pieces and disappointing final balls dictated the match failed to fulfil its early potential. Admittedly Barcelona's Sydney Schertenleib had the crowd on the edge of their seats whenever she ran at Iceland's back line but her final decision persistently let the exciting 18-year-old down.
Although another 18-year-old, Manchester City's impressive Beney went close from distance at the end of the first half and it was becoming increasingly apparent that the game's very real intensity was no substitute for the absence of quality.
Perhaps attempting to raise the tone, Karólina Vilhjálmsdóttir grazed the top of the crossbar with a 20-yard free-kick at the start of the second half. It was the second time the woodwork had saved Switzerland and seemed to inspire Beney to step up her attacking efforts.
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Indeed Beney probably represented Sundhage's biggest goal threat, something she emphasised when directing a looping header fractionally wide as Switzerland assumed increasing dominance.
Possession can, of course, be overrated, and, refusing to fold, Iceland continued to attempt to undo the tournament hosts on the counterattack, with those long throws a persistent source of hope.
It faded considerably in the 74th minute when Schertenleib emphasised her potential by cueing up a perfectly poised Reuteler to unleash up for a beautifully weighted low shot that would condemn Iceland to an earlier than hoped flight back to Reykjavik.
What a moment for the increasingly influential Reuteler to advance from her deep-sitting midfield role and create the platform for a swashbuckling Swiss finale, crowned by substitute Pilgrim's fabulous 90th minute finish from just outside the area following the interception of an Icelandic throw.