SFV leads unofficial U23 team: Switzerland has a secret women’s national team!

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

As usual, the Women’s Super League went on hiatus during the recent Nati break. But twenty players from the Swiss league did not train at their clubs last week. Instead they moved to Lyss BE for an extremely discreet Nati meeting.

Switzerland has a secret women’s national team. It is a new U23 project and forms the intermediate level between the A-team of coach Inka Grings and the U19, the oldest juniors.

But the SFV did not provide any official information about the team or the test match against the YB women. That the first match in Swiss U23 history ended in 3-3? This could only be discovered on the private women’s football portal reisen.ch. The Nati goals were scored by Stephanie Waeber (22, YB) and the two St. Gallen players Yael Aeberhard (19) and Géraldine Ess (21).

The trainer and the SFV manager remain silent

Call Charles Grütter (60). He used to coach the women’s YB and Aarau – and is now the coach of the secret national team. “This is an unofficial story,” Grütter says cautiously, referring to David Meister, the technical director at the SFV for the women’s U-teams.

But Master is also silent. Even a look at the SFV website doesn’t really help. Although there has recently been a menu item for the U23 women, the content is largely lacking.

Only in the A-Nati environment can we learn more about the secret project. Similar mergers had already taken place under Grings’ predecessor Nils Nielsen. The problem has long been recognized: women miss the final junior level as a development step, as has existed for men at U21 since time immemorial.

Other countries have long since introduced a U23

Now Grings relaunched the U23 as an unofficial pilot project. It is one of the measures to ensure that Switzerland does not lose in women’s football. Countries such as Norway, England, the Netherlands and Portugal have had U23 teams for a long time.

There is no question of any secrecy, even though they can only play friendly matches against each other in the absence of official FIFA or UEFA competitions. But these teams also exist because this age group could one day be officially introduced and you then want to be prepared for the European Championship or World Cup qualifiers.

At the SFV everything remains in the test phase for the time being. Because no official U23 international matches will take place until further notice without the blessing of FIFA and UEFA, the selections, training and test matches will remain extremely discreet.

Source : Blick