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The meeting point with Alayah Pilgrim (20) is at the Fifa Museum in Zurich, a few days before the Nati player is one of the bright spots in the Swiss team with attacking accents despite the 0-1 defeat in Sweden. While walking through the exhibition, Pilgrim stops in fascination in front of a very special display case: here is the trophy of the Women’s Football World Cup. “What footballer doesn’t dream of these kinds of trophies?” asks the Nati newcomer.
Pilgrim was at the Swiss World Cup camp this summer, but did not make it to the final in New Zealand. The FCZ striker could still have flown to the World Cup – Morocco, her father’s home country, was intensively involved with the dual citizen. Pilgrim: «It was tempting. But my heart is in Switzerland, I grew up and educated here.”
Just three months after being rejected by the Africans, Pilgrim made her debut for Switzerland and almost scored a goal against Italy in her first ever action as a national player, but the ball hit both posts and went back into the field. “Unfortunately that was bad luck,” says Pilgrim, but adds: “I was very proud. Becoming a national player was one of my biggest goals.” She has the potential to become one of the big figures of the national team at the European home championships.
The Rubiales scandal makes Pilgrim think
But first the Spanish team awaits on Tuesday, which held the trophy so beloved by Pilgrim after the World Cup final. Jenny Hermoso (33) is also in the selection, the victim of the kissing scandal surrounding Spanish national coach Luis Rubiales. This topic makes Pilgrim thoughtful. “It was frustrating that such an incident in connection with women’s football went around the world,” says the wife of Muri AG.
For Pilgrim, the Rubiales scandal also shows that much still needs to be done in society. “Women in general should receive more recognition and appreciation.” She is repeatedly confronted with the macho world on social media. “There is a lot of hate and criticism. I regularly read that women are not allowed to play football. But what frustrated people write leaves me cold. I just keep doing my thing.”
Pilgrim can count on her team, as she calls them. On the one hand, her environment consists of her family, which remained a unit despite her parents’ divorce fifteen years ago: “My father lives nearby and sometimes helps my mother in the garden.” Mother Tanja is always by her side. At home, she cooks meals for her daughter according to her nutritionist’s plans. She is Pilgrim’s driver and social media helper. And mom is the biggest fan: she traveled by Flixbus to the FCZ Champions League qualifier in Amsterdam.
Pilgrim’s friend is Noah Okafor’s brother
Pilgrim’s mother once had no joy when little Alayah wanted to play football with the boys at FC Muri. “She thought it was too hard for a girl,” says Pilgrim, who comes from a non-football family, laughing.
Pilgrim friend, her second great support, comes from a real football family. Elijah Okafor (20, recently Paderborn) is the brother of Nati star Noah (23, Milan), and the third Okafor brother Isaiah (18, Leverkusen youth) is also a footballer.
Elijah Okafor is her great love; they met at FCB. ‘We support each other a lot. It helps that we both have the same job, so there is a lot of understanding,” says the striker, who played in the Champions League with FCZ a year ago and became national champion.
She worked in Corona testing centers
The move from Basel to Zurich in 2022 was a boost for Pilgrim. Before that, she had trained as a health specialist (FaGe) in the hospital and then worked temporarily in the profession: During the Corona period she was often deployed at test centers. “As a FaGe you are on your feet for long days and you train in the evenings. “That was difficult,” she says today.
Pilgrim now leads a professional life because in addition to her FCZ salary, she is able to finance her life with income from advertisements and social media photo shoots. “Since the double burden is gone, I have never been injured again. Often earlier. It’s a huge difference.”
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team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 The Netherlands
|
3
|
4
|
6
|
|
|
2
|
 England
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Belgium
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
|
|
4
|
 Scotland
|
3
|
-5
|
1
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 France
|
3
|
4
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Austria
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
 Portugal
|
3
|
-2
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Norway
|
3
|
-2
|
1
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Denmark
|
3
|
7
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Germany
|
3
|
6
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Iceland
|
3
|
-4
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Wales
|
3
|
-9
|
0
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Spain
|
3
|
7
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Sweden
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Italy
|
3
|
-1
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Switzerland
|
3
|
-7
|
0
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Ireland
|
3
|
11
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Hungary
|
3
|
-3
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
 Northern Ireland
|
3
|
-3
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Albania
|
3
|
-5
|
1
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Finland
|
3
|
8th
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Slovakia
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
 Croatia
|
3
|
-6
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Romania
|
3
|
-2
|
1
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Poland
|
3
|
4
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Serbia
|
3
|
4
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Greece
|
3
|
-5
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Ukraine
|
3
|
-3
|
0
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
|
|
2
|
 Czech Republic
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Slovenia
|
3
|
-2
|
2
|
|
|
4
|
 Belarus
|
3
|
-2
|
1
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Malta
|
3
|
8th
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Latvia
|
3
|
8th
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Andorra
|
3
|
-8th
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Moldavia
|
3
|
-8th
|
0
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Turkiye
|
3
|
9
|
9
|
|
|
2
|
 Luxembourg
|
3
|
-2
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
 Georgia
|
3
|
-3
|
2
|
|
|
4
|
 Lithuania
|
3
|
-4
|
1
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Azerbaijan
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
|
|
2
|
 Montenegro
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
|
|
3
|
 Cyprus
|
3
|
-1
|
4
|
|
|
4
|
 Faroe Islands
|
3
|
-3
|
0
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Kazakhstan
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
|
|
2
|
 Estonia
|
3
|
-2
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
 Israel
|
1
|
5
|
3
|
|
|
4
|
 Armenia
|
2
|
-4
|
0
|
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Kosovo
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
|
|
2
|
 Bulgaria
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
 North Macedonia
|
2
|
-3
|
0
|
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
