"A cramp for Rinast. But that doesn't matter" – an SRF football duo polarizes

Only those who are loved receive a nickname. Like the "Nati." The national football team embodies Switzerland, and even belongs to it to some extent. Part of the overall "Nati" package are those who convey the games to us: the commentators. The country likes to rub itself the wrong way with them, as with Sascha Ruefer. In extreme cases, it promotes them to public ownership, as with Beni national. Everyone has an opinion about them. These often diverge widely.

The Swiss Women's Games are the responsibility of Calvin Stettler and Rachel Rinast. The former commentates on football, biathlon, curling, and basketball. Rinast, who grew up in Germany, was a Swiss national team player and retired shortly before the 2023 World Cup.

SRF is taking a risk with these two: Stettler is only 30, Rinast, 34, and she switched sides almost seamlessly when she made her TV debut with him at the 2023 World Cup. The two have developed their own sound: a mix of bar-room chatter among football buddies and analysis. A bit of banter, always a lot of emotion, but always based on expert knowledge.

There were legendary commentary duos like Beni Thurnheer and Günter Netzer, who thrived on the gap between commentator and expert. While with those two, you always had the feeling they were working on conceptual art, Rinast and Stettler, as expert and commentator, are close to the two people you meet for a chat in a café. "We want to do something we would also find cool," says Stettler. Rinast assures that their private lives aren't much different than they are at the station.

What you hear during the broadcasts is unmistakable: The two are a perfect match. They are on equal footing, give each other space, and listen to each other. That's not a given in a business where speaking time and self-promotion are always at stake. And they like each other: If she had a little brother, says Rinast, he would be like Stettler. He describes her as "very warm-hearted, very lively," a "critical spirit."

The pair's fresh approach is popular; after the World Cup two years ago, they were considered a "dream duo." But critical voices are also growing: too much slapstick (both), overused wordplay (Stettler), cozying up to the players (Rinast), negativity (Stettler). He is aware, of course, that their style polarizes, that there are people "who prefer to do their job by the book," as he puts it. He doesn't want that. "Television," he says, "also contains entertaining elements at the end of the day." Rinast says they are well aware that this style of commentary is also a balancing act.

Now, one might wonder what Rinast's grandmother has to do with the game when she digresses until she calls Stettler back because the Swiss are storming into the opposing penalty area. In all honesty, though, it must be said that the two have almost completely avoided platitudes at the European Championships. Yet they cultivate a relaxed manner that a long-established audience might consider lacking in seriousness. However, they appeal to younger people, who are familiar with short, witty formats.

A balancing act for commentators is always how they deal with proximity and distance from the team and the players. Stettler and Rinast do not cast a neutral, strictly journalistic view of the action. They are Team Switzerland. Sometimes the emphasis shifts sharply toward the fans, then there are "ahs" and "ohs," open calls for the referee to show a yellow card, cheers and sighs of despair. But this is a tradition on Swiss television. Even with the men's national team or the Swiss ski heroes, the commentators prefer to be in the thick of things rather than just watching.

Rinast's partisanship isn't based on fandom, but rather on a genuine closeness to the protagonists. Stettler says: "Rachel still has the player in her. With exactly the qualities she was valued for on the field. She brings life to the game; she cares about what happens on the pitch." It's the player in Rinast who quickly defends her teammates. When Stettler criticizes the Swiss women's team for various careless mistakes in the match against Norway, she says, true to her older sister's style: "Now you're exaggerating, Calvin. It happened twice." This empathetic attitude is sometimes irritating because it runs counter to her own observations.

Rinast is familiar with the accusation, saying: "I've heard a few times that I'm being too sympathetic, because these are all my old teammates and friends. But even if I'm commentating on a Premier League match and don't know any of the players personally, I don't denounce anyone. I know that no one is making the mistake intentionally."

As benevolent as she is, she's not one to be blinded. When the Swiss women's team were relegated from the Nations League, she criticized the lack of emotion with which they accepted it. But you won't see her lashing out like her German colleagues like Lothar Matthäus or Didi Hamann do, trying to provoke a real ruckus.

What's striking is how different she comes across in her second role. Rinast is the first woman to commentate on football matches alone on German-speaking Swiss television, making her debut during the Denmark-Sweden match. She has been working in this role for Sky for a year, covering Premier League matches for the broadcaster. She does so in a competent, matter-of-fact manner, always keeping up with the action. The role suits her because she can draw on her experience as a footballer and has excellent language skills. In a short time, she has familiarized herself with a competitive landscape that requires a thick skin, especially for a woman.

Rinast says commentating on men's football is very different from the role of pundit or co-commentator. Women who commentate alone are criticized much more; often, they are met with pure hate . "There's too much female voice," says Rinast, "but if there's a male voice involved, it's not so bad." Women's football is much less corrupted by hate comments.

The European Championship, the women's matches, are a kind of safe space, and the Swiss games with Calvin Stettler are even more so. Even if one of the comments is directed at her. "Fuck, I got up too quickly," she complained after the opening goal against Iceland. "Rinast has a cramp. But that doesn't matter," he commented. That was pretty funny.

The broadcaster was less amused. Even if they value emotions, "Fuck" is still too much of a bar.