For New Times’ Sake

Chris Brookes interviews Switzerland head coach Pia Sundhage ahead of her home Euros. Her history with the competition runs back to 1984, when she top-scored with four goals and converted the decisive shootout penalty as Sweden beat England in the two-legged final of what was then a four-nation event; she later took Sweden to a semi-final as hosts in 2013. At 65 she arrived in Switzerland after a group-stage exit with Brazil at the 2023 World Cup, tipped off about the vacancy by her friend and former Sweden coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors. The piece revisits her habit of singing, notably Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin'” to a sceptical United States squad in 2007, and she wants comparable brazen courage from her Swiss players. She is bowled over by Sydney Schertenleib, notes Nadine Angerer on her staff, and defines success as Switzerland still talking about 2025 in five years.