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Nati coach Inka Grings remains calm before the Spain game despite the bear market. She also doesn’t see Ramona Bachmann’s failure as a bad idea.
There was bad news from the women’s national team on Sunday: leading player Ramona Bachmann will not be able to take part in the difficult Spain game (Tuesday, 8:40 p.m. live on SRF Zwei) due to a foot injury. “It’s extremely frustrating for them,” said trainer Inka Grings to SRF that evening from Cordoba.
The 32-year-old really wanted to play, but cancellation was ultimately the most sensible decision. Grings admitted that an important player will be missing for the away game, but she was able to quickly put this absence aside: “It’s a chance for another player to show up and prove herself.”
This fits into the philosophy of the current Nations League team. Grings wanted to change the team a little – for example, record goalscorer Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic was not called up – and give young players a chance. This is only a snapshot, but this is how the competition in the national team can be increased – “and that’s the only way you can get better,” emphasized Grings.
My heart is bleeding because of this.
The national team currently needs improvements, especially on the offensive. “My heart is bleeding because of this. I would be lying if it were otherwise,” said the former world-class striker about her team’s poor goal record (8 goals in 11 games under Grings). “But that’s how it is in competitive sports, sometimes you go through such epidemics,” added the trainer. It is important to learn from these experiences and improve.
It is questionable whether we will have the best chance of doing so in the next game. In Spain they will be visiting the dangerous world champions, against whom they lost 1:5 at the World Cup – the defense will probably be more of a challenge there.
But Grings and Co. are looking forward to the duel: “We have nothing to lose and want to invest everything.” Their captain Lia Wälti had already said after the Italy game: “It could be that they underestimate us after this game at the World Cup.”