Aussie Olympian slams coverage of Swiss women's team's loss to 14-year-old boys ahead of Euros
The national women's team slumped to a 7-1 defeat to male Under-15 side FC Luzern in a disappointing warm-up match as they prepare to host the Euros next month.
The defeat was their second to an Under-15 side in their Euro 2025 preparations having also lost 2-1 to FC Solothurn.
Footage of the match circulated on social media and reportedly received 70,000 views on TikTok before being deleted.
Switzerland played a second-string team, with boss Pia Sundhage fielding 26 players, including third choice goalkeeper Nadine Böhi.
'I get pretty frustrated by these stories to be honest because I think if they're playing against an under 15s boys team which they did a couple of weeks earlier [FC Biel] and beat that team, it's not a news story,' Dalton said on Nine's Wide World of Sports.
'I think that's the whole idea of this for me is that this is a high performance preparation for this team, I think they rolled through 28 players in 90 minutes.
'They were obviously testing different combinations and things.
'But people then grab onto this story and just run with it and use it as this argument of "women try and say that they're better than men in sports", and we're not out there doing that.
'We're just out there doing our best as high performance athletes trying to prove ourselves as our own product.
'I think quite often we kind of get caught up in this comparison between men's and women's sport. I don't want to go out and play in the men's AFL competition. I want to play AFLW.
'So I think it is a really important distinction to make. Women's sport can be respected and celebrated on its own without having to be pitted against the men, which often is what these stories reinforce.'
Swiss Football Association media spokesperson Sven Micossé told Blick: '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 games are very similar to our international matches in terms of intensity and mileage.'
Switzerland face Norway in their opening group game on Thursday and will hope to improve on their showing at the previous Euros, where they picked up just one point in three games.
They will also take on Finland and Iceland in group A.
Alisha Lehmann, previously dubbed the 'world's sexiest footballer' was part of the side which lost to the Under 15 side.
Juventus star Lehmann is the national team's most famous player and boasts 16.7million followers on Instagram and 12m on TikTok.
However, she was only handed a last-minute call up to the Swiss squad after being initially snubbed by Sundhage.
The 26-year-old was given a spot in the squad after FC Koln midfielder Alena Bienz withdrew with an ankle injury.
Reacting to her call up, Lehmann wrote on Instagram: 'I couldn't be happier to represent my country at the Euros. I'm so grateful for the opportunity. Let's make Switzerland proud and show how football is growing.'
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