For a player who’s professed ambition is to be the best in the world, it has been a desperately disappointing few days for the Switzerland star Ramona Bachmann. Her team have lost both their matches at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Germany 2010, conceding nine goals, and she admits she has not performed at her best.
Although she would love to stay longer in Germany, at least Switzerland’s departure after the completion of Group D means that the teenager can start getting some attention to the ailments that have restricted her movement and abilities at the tournament.
Specialist advice
Bachmann says she has been troubled by a back injury for two years and whereas once a week’s rest would deal with it temporarily, that is no longer the case. “One of my legs is four millimetres longer than the other and I also have some hip rotation and it causes the problem with my back," she said. “It’s really bad right now and after the World Cup I shall go and see a specialist. If it needs an operation I will have to do it. I am just 19 and my big, big goal is to be the best in the world and for that I need to be fit.”
Although the 5-0 defeat against USA in Dresden on Saturday was another crushing blow, at least the Swiss stepped up their performance after losing almost as heavily to Korea Republic on Wednesday. It was not a scoreline that truly reflected the play. Indeed Bachmann’s strike partner Ana Crnogorcevic might have scored a hat-trick in the first half alone, going close with a header before the Americans had got into their stride, then shooting just wide, then unleashing a vicious drive that Bianca Henninger did well to tip onto the crossbar.
No luck for Swiss
“We haven’t had the best of luck here and if we had scored with the first chance who knows how the game might have turned out?” added Bachmann who after the final whistle in the first game lay flat out on the ground on her own, lost in her disappointment and sheer exhaustion. “We knew it was going to be tough against a team like USA but it’s the World Cup so we had to give everything.”
In the second half there was a gilt-edged opportunity for the US-based Atalanta Beat player to score her debut goal in a FIFA U-20 World Cup – she also took part at Russia 2006 when Switzerland lost all three matches, scoring twice and conceding 14 - but the attempt flew well wide. “Normally I would have scored with that chance but the ball was moving around and I didn’t get a good connection."
She was taken off not long after with coach Yannick Schwery admitting it was not fair to keep her on and it leaves her with one last opportunity to make an impact in the final group fixture against Ghana in Bochum on Wednesday. “I always come to a tournament with the highest goals, it’s not a case of ‘we are here, let’s see what we can do’, I want to win it," she said. "We have a young team with not much experience and we now know the levels we have to reach.source:http://www.fifa.com/u20womensworldcup
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