Switzerland and Denmark aim for third
Thursday, June 28, 2012
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"We're proud to have got as far as we have and we'll give it our best shot to finish third," said Switzerland forward Audrey Wuichet as her side face Denmark for bronze on Friday.
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Switzerland and Denmark will be looking to finish successful UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championshop campaigns on a high when they meet in the third-place play-off on Friday.
After holding Germany to a 0-0 draw for over 70 minutes in Tuesday's semi-final, Denmark succumbed to a pair of late strikes from the two-time champions. Meanwhile, Switzerland, in their first appearance at these finals – held annually in Nyon – were unable to build on Carmen Pulver's early goal against France, eventually losing 5-1 to last year's runners-up.
Despite those setbacks, both teams are taking positives from their experiences. "Although we lost the semi-final, I'll have great memories of our campaign," said Switzerland attacker Audrey Wuichet, whose side beat former semi-finalists England and Iceland on the road to Nyon. "We have gained great experience from playing these matches.
"We're proud to have got as far as we have and we'll give it our best shot to finish third. The atmosphere was great during the semi-final, everyone cheering and singing, and I hope the Swiss people will support us again like that on Friday."
Denmark saw off the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland in qualifying for the finals tournament, and their centre-back Maja Kildermoes said: "We have surprised ourselves. We played against some good teams along the away and got through instead of them, so that means we must be good. It is an awesome feeling to have got this far."
Kildermoes's defensive partner Laura Larsen added: "It's been a really good experience being here in Nyon. It has been very professional. Now it would be nice to get a medal and we will do everything we can to achieve that."