June 15 -The last time Switzerland played in Cologne, they treated those in attendance and the millions watching at home to the most turgid 120 minutes of football I have ever witnessed, while losing to Ukraine on penalties during the 2006 World Cup.
It would be different this time around as the Rossocrociati faced the mighty Magyars of Hungary with all to play for in Group A.
Thanks to Germany’s dismantling of Scotland in the tournament’s opening match, both teams knew that a draw and a point apiece wouldn’t be the worst result. However, that didn’t stop both sides from entertaining the faithful at a sold-out RheinEnergie Stadion which must rank as one of the loudest in world football.
From the 1st minute it was obvious that Murat Yakin, Switzerland’s coach had his tactics right as they dominated possession while probing for the softer underbelly of the Hungarians. In the 12th minute they found it!
Granit Xhaka orchestrated the Swiss performance
For those of you that hate VAR, there isn’t one Swiss fan who is complaining today as Kwadwo Duah was nicely slipped in by Michel Aebischer for his first international only for the assistant referee to raise his flag.
From the press box it looked like a poor decision and the VAR replay which took an age only confirmed that Duah had timed his run to perfection. For Duah he got to celebrate his first goal twice as the referee pointed to the center circle a minute after the ball hit the back of the net.
Hungary immediately looked to their talisman Dominik Szoboszlai to change the momentum however the Liverpool man was having to look for the game instead of it coming to him.
With the Swiss a goal to the good, confidence began to build and as they increasingly bossed the game, and chances presented themselves. In the 19th minute Peter Gulacsi in Hungary’s goal had to be at his best to deny Ruben Vargas who might be disappointed he didn’t score after a howler of a mistake by Milos Kerkez.
In the…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/06/15/swiss-light-group-touch-paper/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-06-15 15:43:20
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