Latest news with #Neuchatel
CNA
4 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Norway's Hegerberg seeks to inspire as Euros enter knockout phase
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland :The women's game has come a long way since the last time Norway played a knockout game at the Euros, agonisingly losing the 2013 final 1-0 to Germany with a callow, 18-year-old Ada Hegerberg, now team captain, starting up front. At that tournament in Sweden, a combined total of 28,814 spectators saw Norway's group games, a number dwarfed by the 34,063 who saw their 2025 opener, a 2-1 win over hosts Switzerland in which Hegerberg equalised with a bullet header, and the 30-year-old has played a greater role than most in the growth of the game. "You've got to take care of the next generation as well. We're here to inspire, we're here to be open, and that's what we want to do," Hegerberg told Reuters at a training session open to fans near the team's base in Neuchatel where locals had come in their droves to watch. Together with vice-captain Caroline Graham Hansen and former captain Maren Mjelde, Hegerberg came so close to winning in 2013, but German keeper Nadine Angerer saved two penalties to thwart the young stars. "Me and Caro (Graham Hansen), we haven't talked a lot about that game when we were younger, because I don't think we realised then what an opportunity that was. But we talk about it today and we're like, damn it, we were one goal away from winning a Euros," Hegerberg explained. "And I think people tend to forget that, but you know it was an incredible experience. Things have changed a lot since, football has changed a lot, but, yeah, it's starting to become a long, long time ago, and we've experienced a whole deal after that." To say that Hegerberg has experienced a lot since then is something of an understatement; she has won 10 French league titles and six Champions League titles with Olympique Lyonnais and a slew of individual awards including the first women's Ballon d'Or in 2018. She has also spent almost five years in self-imposed exile from the national team in protest at how the Norwegian Football Federation treated women's football. She returned in 2022 and has since taken over the captain's armband from Mjelde, ushering in a new era. "It's a huge responsibility, something that I take very seriously, very inspired to take on that role as well. And you know, Caro is my vice captain, and we've been in the game for a long while," she said. "It's all about transmitting experience calmness when that's needed, power when that's needed, you know, I learn an awful lot, being in that role... I'm myself with them and authenticity is the only way." In contrast to many teams in the modern game, the Norwegians continue to be very open, taking time to sign autographs and take selfies after games and training, and splitting the players into groups to make them available to the media. For Hegerberg, that openness is key to growing the game. "It's our day off after a game but I need to get there (to the fans) as soon as possible as well," she said, looking over her shoulder at the throngs of young admirers waiting for a moment with her. "We're still coming here because it's important people are showing up to see us. We want to give back. I think the whole (Norwegian) federation, with Lisa Klaveness running it, has this vibe that we want to bring as many people into this vibe." Her effect on young female fans is visible around the training pitch in Neuchatel as young girls with their hair fixed in Hegerberg's signature power braid wait for her and, as always with the iconic striker, there is a story behind it that has its roots in attention to detail and her will to win. "I can almost do it blind now," she says of her hairstyle. "It comes from the day when my dad told me that I was touching my hair too much while playing football. "I was around maybe eight and he was like, 'you spend too much energy touching your hair, so you've got to do something about it', and that's where the braid came in." That braid has followed her from her first team in Norway through a Women's Euro final and now again into the knockout stage where Norway meet Italy in Geneva on Wednesday, and where more girls in the stands will mimic her style.
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Danes seeking fresh Women's Euro start after recent Sweden thrashing
NEUCHATEL/BERN, Switzerland, July 3 (Reuters) - After conceding three goals in the opening 11 minutes of a 6-1 defeat the last time his side met Sweden a month ago, Denmark coach Andree Jeglertz said he knows exactly what they need to do when the teams meet at the Women's Euro in Geneva on Friday. "We need to get a better start, that's for sure," he told Reuters with a smile during an interview at the Danish team hotel. The 6-1 drubbing the Danes suffered in Stockholm was a shock, but the Swedish-born Denmark coach said that he would not be making wholesale changes to how his side play in response to that defeat. "We have been working together for two years, so we have built a foundation that I don't want to throw away, but we just need to put a little bit more attention on some details in our way of defending and attacking that will give us a better result, hopefully," he said. Ensconced in a hotel that is perched on the northern shore of Lake Neuchatel, the Danes have been preparing meticulously for a foe they know well. Jeglertz said though they have Germany and Poland to come in Group C, they won't be looking beyond the Swedes until that game is done and dusted. "I think it's still only one game at a time. If we started thinking that, if we get a bad start, a bad result, a bad feeling after (one game), it's much tougher," the 53-year-old explained. "So a key thing is to get a good start, getting a feeling that we are into the game and that we are competing on a good level and getting that result of those points from the first game. That gives us better possibilities to qualify for the next round." Having spent a six-year spell in charge of Finland, Jeglertz has seen big changes in the women's game in recent years and is very much looking forward to seeing the players showcasing the best of themselves during the Euros. "The tempo is higher, the quality of each player is better, everything is growing, not just only the player, also the referees, everything around is also taking the next step," he said.
CNA
03-07-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Danes seeking fresh Women's Euro start after recent Sweden thrashing
NEUCHATEL/BERN, Switzerland :After conceding three goals in the opening 11 minutes of a 6-1 defeat the last time his side met Sweden a month ago, Denmark coach Andree Jeglertz said he knows exactly what they need to do when the teams meet at the Women's Euro in Geneva on Friday. "We need to get a better start, that's for sure," he told Reuters with a smile during an interview at the Danish team hotel. The 6-1 drubbing the Danes suffered in Stockholm was a shock, but the Swedish-born Denmark coach said that he would not be making wholesale changes to how his side play in response to that defeat. "We have been working together for two years, so we have built a foundation that I don't want to throw away, but we just need to put a little bit more attention on some details in our way of defending and attacking that will give us a better result, hopefully," he said. Ensconced in a hotel that is perched on the northern shore of Lake Neuchatel, the Danes have been preparing meticulously for a foe they know well. Jeglertz said though they have Germany and Poland to come in Group C, they won't be looking beyond the Swedes until that game is done and dusted. "I think it's still only one game at a time. If we started thinking that, if we get a bad start, a bad result, a bad feeling after (one game), it's much tougher," the 53-year-old explained. "So a key thing is to get a good start, getting a feeling that we are into the game and that we are competing on a good level and getting that result of those points from the first game. That gives us better possibilities to qualify for the next round." Having spent a six-year spell in charge of Finland, Jeglertz has seen big changes in the women's game in recent years and is very much looking forward to seeing the players showcasing the best of themselves during the Euros. "The tempo is higher, the quality of each player is better, everything is growing, not just only the player, also the referees, everything around is also taking the next step," he said.
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Denmark's Bruun seeks revenge at Women's Euros after Swedish drubbing
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland, July 2 (Reuters) - Denmark's Signe Bruun won't be holding back with her tackles when they kick off their Women's Euro 2025 campaign against Sweden on Friday, with the attacker still smarting from a 6-1 Nations League defeat by the Swedes in Stockholm last month. Bruun got the assist for Denmark's goal that evening, but it was about the only thing that went right for the Danes as they conceded three goals in the opening 11 minutes to their Scandinavian rivals en route to a heavy defeat. "It was a tough, tough game. We were so disappointed, it hurts. We kind of took a step back, looked at some basic stuff, and now we're building from that one step back to two steps forward," a confident Bruun, her nails painted in Denmark's colours, told Reuters in an interview at the Danish team hotel on Wednesday. "A lot of the tools, the physical (things), quality on the ball, all this basic football stuff, sometimes you need to reset and go from there." Playing her club football for Real Madrid, the forward said she is used to dealing with the kind of heatwave that currently has temperatures soaring in Switzerland, and she expects plenty of open play form the 16 teams at the tournament. "I think more teams will play out (from the back), play possession football. I also feel like the tactical aspects of women's football has improved over the years, and I think we'll see that in this tournament as well, so I expect good football," she said. "I mean, we want to play, we want to be good on the ball, but we also want to play to our strengths. We want to be strong, we want to be a team that's difficult to play against, score a lot of goals, but also try to keep the clean sheet and do everything we can in that way." Warming to the subject, Bruun said she would not be backing out of any challenges against the Swedes when the game kicks off in Geneva on Friday. "I'm always a hard-working player, and if I need to put in a tackle, I'm going to put in a tackle. So if that's what it takes for me to help the team, I'm going to do that, but I'm around the box, I want to score goals and I think that's where my strength is," she said. Denmark are in Group C along with the Swedes, Germany and tournament debutants Poland.
CNA
02-07-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Denmark's Bruun seeks revenge at Women's Euros after Swedish drubbing
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland :Denmark's Signe Bruun won't be holding back with her tackles when they kick off their Women's Euro 2025 campaign against Sweden on Friday, with the attacker still smarting from a 6-1 Nations League defeat by the Swedes in Stockholm last month. Bruun got the assist for Denmark's goal that evening, but it was about the only thing that went right for the Danes as they conceded three goals in the opening 11 minutes to their Scandinavian rivals en route to a heavy defeat. "It was a tough, tough game. We were so disappointed, it hurts. We kind of took a step back, looked at some basic stuff, and now we're building from that one step back to two steps forward," a confident Bruun, her nails painted in Denmark's colours, told Reuters in an interview at the Danish team hotel on Wednesday. "A lot of the tools, the physical (things), quality on the ball, all this basic football stuff, sometimes you need to reset and go from there." Playing her club football for Real Madrid, the forward said she is used to dealing with the kind of heatwave that currently has temperatures soaring in Switzerland, and she expects plenty of open play form the 16 teams at the tournament. "I think more teams will play out (from the back), play possession football. I also feel like the tactical aspects of women's football has improved over the years, and I think we'll see that in this tournament as well, so I expect good football," she said. "I mean, we want to play, we want to be good on the ball, but we also want to play to our strengths. We want to be strong, we want to be a team that's difficult to play against, score a lot of goals, but also try to keep the clean sheet and do everything we can in that way." Warming to the subject, Bruun said she would not be backing out of any challenges against the Swedes when the game kicks off in Geneva on Friday. "I'm always a hard-working player, and if I need to put in a tackle, I'm going to put in a tackle. So if that's what it takes for me to help the team, I'm going to do that, but I'm around the box, I want to score goals and I think that's where my strength is," she said.
