When Schertenleib returned to Switzerland, the way she was developing in Barcelona became even more noticeable. "Something happened with her endurance, with her physical capacity," Sundhage recalls, while also noting the "confidence" the teenager had gained from taking such a big step in her stride.
Quickly, despite her age and relative inexperience, Schertenleib would become a key player for Switzerland, in a year that would see the nation host the 2025 European Championship. For a team that had never got out of the group stages at the tournament, it was going to be a big deal.
When GOAL asks Sundhage what made her put so much faith in Schertenleib at such a young age, and in such a big moment, there is almost a trace of confusion in the Swede’s voice, as if to say, ‘Have you not seen her play?’ After all, we are talking about a player who is so technically outstanding that Veronica Maglia, her former Switzerland U17 coach, described the ball as being "virtually an extension of her body". But GOAL wants to hear from a manager of Sundhage’s experience and legend, in her own words, just what it was that she was seeing from this incredible talent at such a young age.
"I just looked at the performance in training and she did well so, for me, when we talked about the starting 11 and who is actually ending the game as well, we never looked at the age," she replies. "In the very beginning, yes, but it was absolutely sure that she could withstand the pressure." When the Euros came around, where she would make her major tournament debut, Schertenleib was suddenly a poster girl.
"I saw her in the publicity, on the television and on the posters in the town," Gygax, now proudly watching her career flourish from afar, remembers. The 18-year-old would start three of Switzerland’s four games at an historic Euros which saw La Nati get out of the group stages for the first time. Attendance records would be broken, the hearts of the nation would be captured and proud tears would flow before, and after, an admirable 2-0 loss to Spain in the quarter-finals.
Speaking after her side’s win, La Roja head coach Montse Tome would credit her centre-backs for "managing situations with Sydney", who she noted as "dangerous in open spaces".