#Successor #Grings #Pia #Sundhage #coach #womens #national #team #sports
Contents
With the Swede Pia Sundhage, a big figure will succeed Inka Grings as Swiss national coach.
Legend: The new coach poses with the director of women’s football Pia Sundhage and Marion Daube. SFV
The Swiss Football Association (SFV) has found a successor for Inka Grings. Pia Sundhage will now coach the women’s national team. The SFV will introduce the national coach on Tuesday morning in Muri near Bern (from 11 a.m. in the live stream on the SRF Sport app).
The 63-year-old Swede not only has an excellent reputation, but can also draw on a wealth of experience in women’s football. As a player, she became European champion in 1984 and won the Swedish championship four times with her club teams. But Sundhage was able to celebrate even greater successes after moving to the coaching bench: between 2008 and 2012, the woman who grew up in Ulricehamn in the south of Sweden looked after the US national team and won two gold medals at the Olympic Games with the women’s team led by superstar Megan Rapinoe.
My goal is to optimally prepare the team for the home European Championships in 2025.
She narrowly missed out on winning the world championship title after losing to Japan in the 2011 final. She then took over responsibility for the Swedish national team for 5 years, and most recently she coached the Brazilians for 4 years until they were eliminated in the group phase at the 2023 World Cup.
In the SFV, Sundhage succeeds head of training Reto Gertschen, who took over on an interim basis for two games following the dismissal of Inka Grings in mid-November. The year 2023 was disappointing for the women’s national team with only 2 wins from 16 games. The Scandinavian has a contract until the end of 2025.
“I am pleased to be taking on a group of talented players who have great potential,” the new national coach is quoted as saying in the media release. “This year is the start of a campaign that will culminate in the 2025 European Championship in our own country. My goal is to optimally prepare the team for this highlight.”
Experience with a home European Championship
Sundhage has already had experience as a coach at a home European Championship. In 2013 she coached the Swedish women’s team to the semi-finals. «A home European Championship is a unique experience. The Women’s EURO 2013 in Sweden was one of the most fun and important experiences of my life, both on and off the pitch. The tension, hope and expectations are rising. It is a privilege to be able to coach a team under this pressure. I love it.”
