Voici un article paru le 10 juin dans le Vancouver Sun. Il est en anglais.
Hier ist ein Bericht vom Vancouver Sun, welcher am 10. Juni erschien. Er ist auf Englisch.
Ecco una notizia del Vancouver Sun pubblicata il 10 giugno. È in inglese.
'Rollie Pollie' Swiss goalie Gaelle Thalmann laughs it off
VANCOUVER - Five-foot-seven, 136-pound Swiss women’s national team
goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann hardly looks in desperate need of a visit to
Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.
But Japanese captain Aya Miyama
thought Thalmann looked “a little bit heavy” this week before she beat
the Swiss ‘keeper on a penalty shot that gave Japan a 1-0 win over
Switzerland in World Cup action at BC Place.
Miyama said after the game that’s why she placed her shot low and wide.
Presumably,
a butterball goalkeeper like Thalmann wouldn’t have enough time to
waddle over to one side and get her oversized body in front a
well-placed shot.
Thalmann literally laughed off the phantom
weight issue Wednesday when told of Miyama’s remark after the Swiss side
trained at Empire Field.
“You should always kick a penalty like that, regardless of what the goalie looks like,” she said through a smiling translator.
Thalmann,
who surrendered just one goal in 10 World Cup qualifying games, feels
extremely fortunate to even be playing in this Women’s World Cup,
Switzerland’s first time in the big show.
The 29-year-old tore her
right anterior cruciate ligament less than seven months ago while
playing for her German club team MSV Duisburg.
From that moment on, it was a race to recover in time for the World Cup.
After
three surgeries, months of eight-hour-a-day rehab sessions and a
closely-monitored soccer-training comeback schedule, she made it to
Canada.
“’When I got the news from the doctor (about the torn
ACL), I was really down,” Thalmann said. “But it was always my goal to
be here and I always worked hard for this. I always had the belief that
it would work.”
The goalkeeper with 37 caps for her country
started her first game in more than six months in a friendly against
Germany on May 27 – a 3-1 loss.
Thalmann hardly looked to be
favouring her right knee in the entertaining 1-0 loss to Japan when she
fearlessly leapt towards a dangerous loose ball in her penalty area,
causing a collision with Japanese midfielder Kozue Ando and a penalty
kick that led to Miyama’s goal.
But off the field, she’s careful to avoid anything that might tweak her knee.
Thalmann is a fitness fanatic and used to work out by doing pushups while balancing on four soccer balls. “I haven’t done it since the surgery,” she said of her unique workout regimen, adding that “maybe” she’ll do them again one day.
Swiss
national team head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said it was hugely
important for Thalmann to recover in time for the World Cup. “You
see her qualities on the field every time,” she said. “She is a leader
and she will talk a lot with the young players. She has a really good
spirit and we need her personality on and off the field.”
Voss-Tecklenburg
said Thalmann is in top form and is Switzerland’s clear number-one
goalkeeper now, though backup ‘keeper Stenia Michel can provide great
cover if needed.
Switzerland, ranked 19th in the world by FIFA,
surprised many observers with its strong showing in the loss to
defending World Cup champions Japan. The Swiss dominated much of the
second half and standout forward Ramona Bachmann threw fits into
Japanese defenders with several dangerous runs and did everything but
score.
Defender Daniela Schwarz said the Swiss have to take something positive from the loss.
“We know that if we continue like that, then the results will come,” she said.
Switzerland plays its second group-stage game against Ecuador before Japan takes on Cameroon at BC Place on Friday.
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