Lucky charm Bucharest: memories of great emotions

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Nati’s players can’t help but smile when they enter the lawn in the vicinity of the National Stadium in Bucharest the day before the group final against Romania. Two-thirds of today’s squad will be present when the national team writes Swiss sporting history in the Romanian capital on June 28, 2021.

‘Liberté, Égalité, Quarterfinalé’, was the headline in Blick at the time. And commented: “Now we are a Grande Nation! This morale, this mentality, to make up for a 3-1 defeat against the world champions. Just crazy!” The other media are also cheering. There is euphoria throughout the country. Photos of ecstatic Swiss fans from Lake Constance to Lac Léman are going viral.

Vargas’ fond memories

Ruben Vargas (25) is in the middle of the hussar show in Bucharest. The Augsburg wing came on for Breel Embolo in the 79th minute when the score was 1:3. Thanks to goals from Haris Seferovic and Mario Gavranovic, the national team then achieved the crazy turnaround that was no longer thought possible. The neutral fans in Bucharest’s national stadium, which was only half full due to the COVID pandemic, also paid their respects to the national team with a standing ovation.

“Of course I have very good memories of that time,” Vargas said the day before the qualifying final against Romania. “When we drove to the stadium, they came back up.” He also takes responsibility for penalties and scores from eleven meters, just like his four colleagues. Then Yann Sommer makes the historic victory perfect; His parade against superstar Kylian Mbappé is burned into the memories of Nati fans.

Not everything is the same as 2021

The national team will return to Bucharest in the autumn of 2023. But the euphoria that was even remotely great at the time is still far from present. Qualifying was too slow, the performance was too poor. The convenience has been lost, as have the good results. With the exception of Andorra, the national team has not won for a long time. The record is one win from the last six games against – if at all – European mediocrity.

“The momentum is not exactly on our side,” said Vargas, who recently scored the only goals against Israel and Kosovo. He denies that the team spirit would be worse compared to 2021. ‘I don’t know what should be different. We have a very good relationship with each other.”

Good omen: same hotel!

With a victory over Romania, the national team wants to end the qualification in Bucharest on a conciliatory note. But for all the superstitious people: some things are different than they were back then. On the one hand, Switzerland plays in red and not in white. Secondly, it has a different bench than it did back then. And thirdly, the hut that France had had.

But: the national team will be staying in the same hotel as in 2021. If that is not a good omen: for Tuesday’s match, but also for the European Championships next summer. “Because we want to write a new story,” says Vargas. No one would object to a Cinderella story in Germany, similar to the one in June 2021.

Source : Blick