Bitter pill at the start of the European Championship: Switzerland demonstrates against Germany

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The Swiss national team dreamed of taking on the role of party crasher. But Michael Suter’s team is miles away from that. Instead, German fans are celebrating widely. Ten minutes before the final whistle, the well-known ‘Oh, how beautiful that is’ echoes through the arena. In the end it is 27:14 for Germany.

Everything starts quite friendly for Switzerland: sometimes the biggest applause of all the players comes not from a local, but from Andy Schmid. It is a tribute from the German fans to the player who shaped their competition sportingly and personally for twelve years. The 40-year-old from Lucerne is risking everything again. He tried to take control from the start, but was unable to do so against the stable German defense.

Wolff makes the national team despair – Röthlisberger’s absence is noticeable

“We have to get through the first fifteen minutes well,” Nati coach Suter said before the match. But just after 15 minutes he had to take his first timeout when the score was 3:7. Previously, his players acted without ideas in attack. The measure with the extra field player, which Suter has so often successfully opted for, also does not work. Because the Swiss usually fail because of goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. Wolff, the great hero of the last European Championship title in 2016, is one of the few world-class players among the Germans. He nails his penalty area shut and stops more than half of all shots on target in the first half.

On the other hand, Nati goalkeeper Nikola Portner also fits into the game well. But even he cannot always hide the sometimes large holes in the newly formed defense. The injury-related absence of defense chief Samuel Röhtlisberger appears to be more serious than one could have suspected after the Yellow Cup.

The national team does not live up to the praise it received beforehand

Even at this point you have to be afraid of the national team. Some fans are reminded of the 2020 European Championship, when Switzerland lost to Sweden in 21:34 in the opening match in Gothenburg. In any case, it won’t get that far until the break. The national team is stabilizing. In addition, German coach Alfred Gislason is beginning to test some personnel variant for the later stages of the tournament. We go into the break with a score of 8:13.

In the second half, Switzerland switched to a more attacking defense. Of course, this doesn’t change the problems with the attack. Switzerland therefore ends in a defeat of 14:27. It in no way does justice to the sometimes enormous praise in advance – especially from the German camp. Ultimately, Lenny Rubin was the most successful Swiss goalscorer with four goals. Andy Schmid had a pitch-black evening with two goals from eight attempts and several losses of the ball.

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Source : Blick