Switzerland became the latest addition to the IHF Women's World Championship family as the European nation made their debut appearance at the global event, beating Islamic Republic of Iran at the Maaspoort Arena in 's-Hertogenbosch, to get their campaign off to the perfect start.

"It's amazing. It's so nice to have made this experience and now the tournament starts," says Switzerland's right wing Mia Emmenegger, who started the game and ended with four goals in their 34:9 victory.

"You suddenly feel all this excitement just before the championship starts and, in the moments before the game started, it was like this joy. You knew why you're training because it's all going to be worth it at this point.

"Hearing our national anthem, you feel that you're standing there for your country and you hold each other in your arms and feel like we're one team, that we're here for our country, so let's get our [act] together and fight. It was not goosebumps, but an empowering feeling; that together we can achieve something. There were so many feelings coming together right before the game, and also in the game and the realisation after it that, wow, we played and we won our first game on the world stage. That's hard to describe actually.”

Achieve they did, shutting up shop in the second half, conceding just twice to ensure coach Knut Ove Joa could fully rotate his entire squad of 16 ahead of sterner tests against Senegal on Saturday (29 November) and then Hungary on Monday – three different continents in three different matchdays – with the Esbjerg player relishing the opportunity to test her skills against a variety of global styles.

 

“It's one of the things why world championships are so exciting, because you don't know actually what's coming from every team, so you want to be as prepared as possible, in every game, no matter which nation you play against,” says the 20-year-old, who played in the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship in North Macedonia.

“But you still don't know how it's going to be on the court. You try to put all your effort in this, but then sometimes there are still surprises. We played against Korea in 2022 and knew that they were going to come with a really different playing style and that was an experience in itself, just to know there are more cultures of handball in a worldwide tournament, than there are in a European one.

“This feeling to be ready for everything was something we could bring with us here, because most of us have actually played in a world championship before. Against Iran here you could see that we got used to them the longer the game went on, but it's so different. We experienced a bit from Iran, and next it is Senegal which is really also exciting. They're so cool. we've seen their game yesterday (they lost 26:17 to Hungary), and how strong they are. It's impressive.

“Now, we have to go a step further on from that first game, and we have to see how we are going to  act against their kind of power,” she added. “This is going to be a challenge for us, but a nice one. Our goal is that we play our game, but adapt to them and try to ‘disarm’ them. This is also the challenge for the coaching team to work this out together with us; where we can make these changes and where we should stick to our plan – how we can make it hard for them, how we play, because we're the best when we play the way we play as we always play.”

For the morning interview after the victory the night before, Emmenegger is full of passion and energy, joking about the overuse of a word in that last sentence (“that’s a lot of ‘play’”) but it is infectious and you cannot help feel full of happiness after speaking with her.

“We are a team full of energy, I have to say,” she says, laughing. “Already in the morning, during breakfast it can be we are all talking like ‘bang, bang, bang’, so it's good that we have the early game but we are happy to be here and to have this experience.”

On a personal, club level, Emmenegger is getting a whole lot of experience at Team Esbjerg in the Danish league, joining the club in January after her then club Vipers Kristiansand went bankrupt. 

“That was actually really crazy. I did not have a normal shift (transfer) as I came in-season,” explains the player, who joined Nora Mork, Henny Reistad, Switzerland teammate Tabea Schmid and a galaxy of other internationals in Denmark at the beginning of the year.

“I was a bit scared and thought; ‘what will they think of me because they, for sure, don't know me’. Of course, I knew everyone on the team, everyone's name, and I've seen them play a lot of games, so to suddenly be in-between them all felt a bit weird.

 

“But they were so friendly. They made it so easily to come in, and made you feel you were on the same level as a person as them. As a player, I am far away from them, but they made you feel so welcome and that was so nice. These personalities, they're great. It's part of why they are so good and I can really feel it. I was so impressed.”

Playing with such legendary players, Emmenegger and Schmid have been able to use that club experience in Scandinavia – where fellow national teammates Melanie Felber (Skara HF – Sweden) and Era Baumann (Viborg HK – Denmark) also play – in their national team setting.

“We look at these players in club games and see how they act in different situations and what they say. How do they deal with victories? How do they deal with losses? What do they work on?” explains Emmenegger, who started her career at Swiss side Spono Eagles.

“They always work on themselves first. We try as individuals to learn from them, but we also try to spread it a bit somehow. It's inspiring how they do it and how they manage. This is something we try to bring into our culture here in the national team; we work with each other to not be too scared by big teams.

“Now they have got to know us at the club, then maybe it was something they have realised, that it is not normal for us to come from a small country and still manage to get into the Scandinavia league and play on such a high level,” she adds. “We're really grateful for this opportunity but sometimes you also think it's a lot of luck, but we have to give a lot to end up there, it's a bit hard to describe.”

Emmenegger has settled in to life in Scandinavia well, even using “good-bad” jokes told by Denmark goalkeeper Anna Kristensen as a way of learning Danish.

But there is one non-negotiable in the changing room – who has the best chocolate.

“Tabea and I bring them chocolate, because the Norwegians think they have the best, but I doubt it,” she says with another laugh. “The discussion is still open, maybe we have to bring a Christmas present and try to prove them the other way. We have to work on it.”

While chocolate is closely associated with Switzerland, Emmenegger is too and the young winger could not be more happier than representing her Alpine nation on the world level.

“We’re really proud to be Swiss,” she says. “When we talk about our goals with our national teams at the club, they are really different, but we would never want to change it, because we're proud of it and we're proud of the way we came here. It's so nice to have this and to show here that we have come from a small country, that we’re here now and that we would like to participate.”

In one (or maybe more) word: Mia Emmenegger on the first-ever world championship matchday squad

Lea Schupbach: “The wall”
Kerstin Kundig: “Captain and a good soul”
Laurentina Wolff: “Smart”
Tabea Schmid: “The engine”
Daphen Gautschi: “Power shooter”
Clairebel Coker: “Young and full of energy”
Era Baumann: “Huge talent and inspiring”
Norma Goldmann: “Power. Our defensive worker”
Charlotte Kahr: “Hardest shot I know”
Melanie Felber: “Fast routine”
Malin Altherr: “The wrist.”
Seraina Kuratli: “Miss 86%” (Kuratli saved 12 out of 18 shots against Iran)
Nora Snedkerud: “Really strong.”
Louise Truchot: “Amazing. Makes a lot of jokes. A good person.”
Joline Erni: “Social. A running line player.”
Coach Knut Ove Joa: “Calm.”

…and Mia Emmenegger: “Hmmmm…”