As time wore down and Switzerland strained to restore parity in a match that had looked so comfortably within their grasp, the clattering encouragement of a cowbell sounded from St Jakob-Park’s west stand. It may unwittingly have been tolling for the home nation, whose campaign now stands on a knife-edge after one day. The occasion’s celebratory feel had largely been matched by the vibrancy of their football; this, though, was ultimately a barely deserved triumph of Norwegian experience over local expectation.
“This Euro arrives a bit too early,” La Liberté had cautioned its readers over their matchday breakfast. It was hardly a rousing tone-setter but perhaps the point was fair. Nobody watching Pia Sundhage’s players work through the thirds, tear away down the wings and pin their opponents back for the first 50 minutes of this showpiece would have questioned the technical quality or intent of a team natives have taken some persuading to love. In the end knowhow and a little luck, those nebulous descriptors that somehow become starkly real in tournament football, inhabited the shirts in white and meant the mood was drained decisively.
Basel had been ready to party, the stifling heat lending a headiness to the buildup as fans crammed into trams and warmed up in riverside bars. This is prime season for a dip in the Rhine, which partly cleaves its way along the borders with Germany and France that confound geographers and mark the city’s outskirts. Floating along its course, guided by the current, is a popular pastime here but Switzerland now find themselves confronted by a swelling tide.
The energy was only pulsing one way when Nadine Riesen, who put in a remarkable first-half performance, swept in their opener shortly before the half-hour. This is a beautiful venue: steep, stern, guttural. It holds the noise in, smells of football and diminishes the arguments of those who would have favoured a host country with bigger grounds. The eruption in the stands, the mass bundle between substitutes and starters, was that of a football country finding its place. This was a national moment: an exhibition of brilliance from a sport that had been subdued in these parts for too long.
Switzerland filled the senses before slipping away. The 18-year-olds, Noemi Ivelj and Iman Beney, teased and darted. Riesen, the Eintracht Frankfurt wing-back, dictated the pace and flow from her flank. Lia Wälti, passed fit, pulled the strings. In the stands her Arsenal teammate, Kim Little, wore a replica shirt bearing her name. Goodwill radiated here and, until Norway applied the sting, so did hope.
What a smash and grab this proved to be from a visiting side that had resembled strangers. Norway were a maddening watch until Ada Hegerberg, with a prodigious leap, continued the habit of a career while reannouncing herself on the tournament stage. Her penalty miss, the centrepiece of a dizzying five minutes in which Switzerland were denied their own spot- kick, was rendered a footnote. A piece of individual quality from Caroline Graham Hansen, a gliding half-threat all night, had already caused Julia Stierli to put through her net for the winner.
It means Norway are poised for the knockouts, although the display of a talent-rich side will perpetuate questions about their status in the world. Earlier in the day their football association, led by Lise Klaveness, had hosted a meeting with delegates from Eliteserien clubs and other institutions to discuss how a one-time trailblazer could regain a little of its old power. Times have changed immeasurably since Norway’s titles in 1987 and 1993; they looked a team of moments here, big on ability but low on cohesion. They pack a punch but look unlikely to string together a set of showings convincing enough to trouble the favourites.
Klaveness embraced Aleksander Ceferin, the Uefa president, before kick-off. Her recent appointment to the governing body’s executive committee affords Norway at least one lever of greater influence, while amping up the voice of women’s football in Europe’s corridors of power. It made a convincing statement here, helped by a day that passed with few wider ripples. Perhaps referees in future ties will take a firmer grip on timewasting than Alina Pesu, the Romanian official, managed here; Norway’s procrastination after edging ahead was one of few elements that genuinely riled the crowd and should have been stamped out quickly.
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Seven minutes from time Switzerland had their chance to seize the narrative again when Géraldine Reuteler, played through by a typically incisive move, was denied by the impressive Norway goalkeeper Cecilie Fiskerstrand. The moment had passed; they would not come anywhere near as close again. It was the visiting bench that teemed on to the surface at full time, making for their pocket of supporters and maybe reflecting that it was no small feat to defeat hosts in an opener for the first time. The bell could not save Switzerland, but something must intervene before their dream withers.
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