A new training base was needed – Sow: “Almost like a castle, only the Queen is missing” – Sport


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Coumba Sow reports on the first impressions of the women’s national team from the EM accommodation just outside of Leeds. The training base had to be improved.

There are still a few days left until the women’s national team make their debut at the Women’s EURO on Saturday against Portugal. The SFV selection has been in England, more precisely in the West Yorkshire region, since Monday evening. A little southeast of Leeds is Oulton Hall, which will host the Swiss women during the tournament.

The first impression fits, as Coumba Sow reveals: “We were received very nicely. All employees had a smile on their face. It was almost like being in a castle, now all that’s missing is the Queen,” jokes the midfielder.

Good mood despite bad place

Tuesday afternoon saw the first training session for the women’s national team at Rothwell Juniors FC. The English amateur club would have made its infrastructure available to Switzerland during the EM stay, but the space did not meet the requirements, which is why it had to react (see box).

Brief excitement: A new training base was needed


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Due to poor terrain conditions, the SFV has decided to start preparing on a new facility from Wednesday. The Nati moves on to Huddersfield to the Town Academy Training Ground. “When we inspected the pitch, we found that the turf didn’t meet the standard that we need to be able to train optimally,” explains Tatjana Haenni, director of women’s football in the national association. Uefa immediately signaled understanding for the issue and found an alternative within a short time.

Away from training, the players are also offered variety in the hotel. The lounge is equipped with both a “Töggelikasten” and a table tennis table. These were inaugurated immediately after dinner on Monday: “I have to say, Vio (Viola Calligaris, editor’s note) has proven to be the queen of ping-pong,” says Sow.

First serious fight on Saturday

It remains to be seen whether the ping-pong queen can still be overthrown in the course of the European Championship tournament. But it is much more important that the Swiss women can prepare optimally for their games. The general conditions are right: “Everyone is happy and feels good,” says Sow.

Whether the women’s national team can carry this good feeling into the EURO will be seen for the first time on Saturday. At 18:00 at Leigh Sports Village, Switzerland will battle Portugal for crucial points in the battle for progress.

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