Interview Reusch

Reusch (Suisse) est mon sponsor depuis de nombreuses années. J'ai la chance d'être soutenue par cette grande marque qui produit des gants de qualité. À l'occasion du Mondial, le site de Reusch International a interviewé les gardiennes qui participent au tournoi en jouant avec des gants Reusch. Ci-dessous, vous pouvez lire mon interview (en anglais).

Reusch (Schweiz) ist seit vielen Jahren meinen Sponsor. Ich habe das Glück, dass sie mich mit qualitativ hervorragenden Handschuhen unterstützen. Anlässlich der WM hat die Internetseite von Reusch International die Torhüterinnen interviewt, die am Turnier mit Reusch-Handschuhen teilnehmen. Unten könnt ihr das Interview (auf Englisch) lesen.

Reusch (Svizzera) è il mio sponsor da anni. Ho la fortuna di essere sostenuta da questa grande marca, che produce guanti di qualità. All'occasione del Mondiale, il sito di Reusch International ha intervistato i portieri che partecipano al torneo giocando con i guanti Reusch. Qui sotto potete leggere la mia intervista (in inglese). 

PROFILE

Name: Gaëlle Thalmann
Nationality: Switzerland
Age: 29 (18.01.1986)
Glove size: 8
Height: 1.70 m
Club: MSV Duisburg (Germany) 

THE SWISS NATIONAL TEAM AT THE WORLD CUP 2015:
Group C (with Japan, Cameroon, Ecuador)
First match on June 8, 2015 against Japan

INTERVIEW

How does it feel to represent your home country in such an important tournament? 

It’s an honour to be playing for Switzerland. I’m very proud that we were able to qualify for the World Cup finals for the very first time in history. Both the anticipation and the concentration are now really high.

What is your goal for the 2015 World Cup? 

Our team’s goal is definitely to make it through the group stage. If we reach this goal, we can set ourselves a new goal. But first we have to play match after match. Personally, my goal for the 2015 World Cup is to compete as Switzerland’s number one goalkeeper and to play a successful tournament.

After you had torn your cruciate ligament in November 2014, the World Cup 2015 seemed to be an almost unreachable goal for you. How were you able to recover in such a short period and prepare yourself for the tournament?

That was a whole lot of hard work! In December, just before Christmas, my knee even got infected and so I had to undergo a second surgery. That was the time when I decided to go abroad for my rehab. My club and my docs immediately agreed on my decision, because they were aware that I needed some time off, some time for myself to get back on track. I have then been to Sardinia, where I had played in the past, and completed one and a half months of physiotherapy and training with the physician of my trust. After this hard time I came back to Germany, where I play for the Bundesliga club MSV Duisburg. A daily routine of at least four hours of rehab per day plus additional training in the evenings was on my timetable for following months. Then, finally, I was back on the soccer field again and was able to play a few matches. I’ve almost had no free time during the last six months – but in exchange I am now able to compete at the World Cup with my team! It was definitely worth it!

How do you see the evolution of women’s soccer over the last years? Do you think that the public attention for your sport is growing? 

Women’s soccer keeps on progressing. Men’s clubs such as Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich, Lyon or PSG invest more and more money in their women’s teams. The names of these clubs are obviously well-known in public and so it helps to promote our sport in media etc. Apart from these there are also other really successful teams that are purely women’s clubs, just like the 1.FFC Frankfurt (Germany), winner of this year’s Champions League. Nowadays there are good structures for girls who want to play soccer – having good youth formation centres is of course crucial to be later successful as adult teams.

Which Reusch-model do you use for the 2015 World Cup? 

The Reusch Re:ceptor Deluxe G2 – of course with the Swiss cross on it!

What do you love most about being a goalkeeper? 

I like it to have an important and responsible role. Every member of the team of course has some responsibilities, but since there is no one behind the goalkeeper to repair possible mistakes there’s always a lot of pressure on the goalkeeper. This is the situation I consider as the biggest challenge but also chance. With a good personal performance I can set the cornerstone for the team’s victory. But don’t take yourself as too important – soccer is still a game! Fun should always be in first place – this is the only way to be successful.