Unity key for free-scoring Swiss

There are few more daunting challenges in the Women's Under-19 game than facing the might of five-time European champions Germany, yet Switzerland winger Jehona Mehmeti is gearing up for Thursday's showdown in Minsk without the slightest hint of trepidation.

Lofty ambitions
Returning to the UEFA European Women's U19s Championship after a two-year absence, the Swiss are fast emerging as serious contenders in Belarus. They eliminated titleholders Italy on their way to the finals, kicked off their Group A campaign on Monday with a convincing 4-1 win over the hosts, and will be looking to create another stir against the tournament favourites. "We have come here to try to win every match," an upbeat Mehmeti told uefa.com. "We won't suddenly try to play for 1-1 or 2-2 just because we're up against Germany. We'll try to win. We know they have a very good team with fast, strong players but if we stick to our own philosophy we can do well."

Collective strength
Switzerland's philosophy, Mehmeti explained, is all about sticking together on the pitch and defending and attacking as a unit. "You saw the way we played against Belarus in the first half," said the 18-year-old, whose long-range shot helped Yannick Schwery's charges establish a four-goal lead before the interval. "That's the way we like to play football, with everybody pulling in the same direction. We didn't do so well in the second half because we switched off mentally. We should have scored four more, but we were already thinking about Germany and too many players were trying to do things on their own."

'We love scoring'
The all for one approach has served Switzerland well. They plundered 25 goals in six qualifying games, and though front-two Ana Maria Crnogorcevic and Ramona Bachmann contributed nine of them the scoring duties were largely shared, with 13 players finding the net. "There is a really good spirit in the squad," the FFC Zuchwil 05 youngster continued. "We have been together since last August and we really like playing together; we love scoring goals. It helps that we have two great strikers in Ramona and Ana but we're also solid at the back."

Launching pad
A strong-running left winger, Mehmeti is also likely to pose a threat to Germany, who defeated France 2-1 in their opening game. The ambitious teenager has been part of the U19 set-up for two years and hopes this tournament will serve as a launching pad for the rest of her career. "I hope to have a career in football and would love to play abroad one day," she said. "This competition is a fantastic experience for me. It's difficult to know how far Switzerland can go, but our main aim is to reach the semi-finals and secure qualification for the [FIFA Women's U-20] World Cup. If we go further then I'd take that as well."