The Swiss team landed in New Zealand. On July 21, the women’s soccer team will play their first match against the Philippines. Inka Grings has only recently become part of the national team. In January, the 44-year-old German became the coach of the Swiss national team.

Inka Grings, it’s hot in Switzerland. Significantly colder in New Zealand, where you will spend the coming weeks. How do you feel about this change?

Jacket, sweater, long pants. It’s autumn. It’s 10-15 degrees. We are not going to Alaska now, where you have minus 20 degrees. The weather is great for the game. I just hope it’s not always so wet. But we know what to expect, and we can’t influence it in any way.

What are your goals for this World Cup?

To get as far as possible. This is what we set out to do. We have an interesting mix and everyone is in great shape right now.

In a group with the Philippines, Norway and New Zealand, reaching the round of 16 should be the goal.

Yes, sure. No questions. Norway was and still is my favorite in our group. They have fantastic players in their ranks, incredibly experienced and at the highest level. New Zealand is the host country and has grown tremendously in recent years. They play very good football. The Philippines may become a stumbling block. They have nothing to lose in their first participation in the World Cup.

As a player, you have participated in two world championships. What experience can you now bring to the team as a coach?

For me as a player, the World Cup has always been exciting. Because that’s exactly what you need: full stadiums, the attention of the whole world, fans who come to the stadium just to watch you play. I was also impressed that in a tournament like this, different cultures meet.

How did you cope with the pressure, which is much higher in such a tournament than in club football?

I’ve always enjoyed this stress. When I was booed as a player, it always gave me an extra push and motivated me to show even more. But I also know that this pressure and this attention can slow you down. At the 2011 World Cup in Germany, many players had a complete blackout because they couldn’t handle the media pressure because everyone expected us to win the World Cup.

I found this exciting, but I know it can quickly turn negative. And that experience helps me now because I can talk to the players about the possibilities. What should I do if we concede a goal in five minutes? How will I react if I miss the opportunity to score a goal in the 80th minute? Thanks to my experience, I can be more empathetic and try to prepare the team for such situations.

At last year’s European Championship in England, the Swiss held up well under the guidance of their predecessor Niels Nielsen, but lost the best result several times in the final stage. Did you conclude from this that this time it will not happen?

Yes, we train more, because I definitely think that the physical part is crucial. We have incredibly good players. But it’s useless if you break in after 60 or 70 minutes. It was noticeable on the EM. That’s why the players have been given homework since February, and I think most of them have done it at home.

I recently compared the statistics before the European Championship with our sports coaches, and I can already say that the players have run several kilometers more. I think we are on the right track to be in shape when it starts.

Switzerland never won in the six games that you coached. Three games ended with the score 0:0. As a player you were one of the best strikers in the world. How to solve the rating problem?

Basically, always pushing him in training, always aiming for the goal. I still have so much to say to the players that they are really great, that they have to try, that they have to be brave. But in the end, it’s all about training. I always shoot at goal with a good mood.

It sounds easy.

Goal scoring has a lot to do with instinct. Either you have it or you don’t. If I look at Alisha Lehmann when she is in front of the goal, she has almost 100 percent performance. We just need to force situations like this over and over again and put the players in the right position. I can’t make you a special cake recipe and then you can go. But they should work for such things.

Captain Lija Välti has not played since suffering an ankle injury with Arsenal in May. How is she?

Leah has been and will continue to be an extremely important player for us. She is a great leader, especially on the field. I’m happy to have her back on board because she’s just a great player and of course will help us as a team. I think she felt a little inner relief when, a week after the foul, she was diagnosed that if all went well, she could make it to the World Championships. But she also worked very hard at her club to get where she is now.

In other countries, such as Germany, there were long discussions about the television rights to this World Cup tournament, and at times there was a threat that the games would not be shown at all. What does this say about women’s football?

First of all, of course, I was proud that we show everything here in Switzerland. Amazing. I didn’t follow the discussions in detail. But you must be willing to negotiate or invest more. Accordingly, I think that every discussion that takes place in public always has something to do with attention, which is basically correct.

Come to the table and say we don’t agree with this, you have to do a little more now, it’s just part of the business. It’s important that we meet someday. And here’s how it happened. Everyone is shown to be happy.

For men, discussions about the closure of the World Cup in Germany seem unthinkable. Here, too, women have to fight more for their rights.

Yes, apparently, we women have to do this, unfortunately, in many areas. Which is not good because it always takes a lot of work, but at some point we want to be able to expect more. I think it’s good that now we can sit down at the table and discuss things. We need courageous women who don’t just stand in line, but stand up when things don’t go the way they should be.

A potential point of contention is World Cup bonuses. It is not clear if the Swiss Football Association will pay bonuses to players in addition to FIFA bonuses.

I have nothing to do with this, but as far as I know, so far the meetings have been quite positive. I consider the association very open and I know that we will come to a common denominator. I don’t worry about it at all.

(rent/gin)