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After missing out on the World Cup title, the disappointment in the Swiss camp was huge. But national team coach Fischer was also proud.
In an interview with a representative of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Roman Josi could no longer contain his emotions. When asked what message he had for the Swiss fans, the national team captain had to pause briefly in tears before saying: “We can’t thank you enough for the support we received. We would have loved to bring it home. We gave everything for Switzerland.”
A little later, Josi also expressed his deep disappointment in an interview with SRF. “It’s a shame, we really believed in victory, even today in the final. Unfortunately, the hoped-for victory didn’t happen, and at the moment we’re mostly disappointed,” said the NHL defender. At the same time, he also highlighted the team’s qualities: “Everyone went for each other, everyone gave their all. It was incredible with this team, it’s something we’ll never forget.”
We were so close to becoming world champions. We really felt like we were ready to take that step.
For Patrick Fischer, it was the third World Cup final he lost. In 2013 he was there as an assistant coach, and in 2018 he was head coach for the first time. “I can’t stand the sight of the silver medal anymore,” he said disappointedly. “It’s not a nice feeling. We were so close to the world championship title. We really had the feeling that we were ready for this step.” In the end, it wasn’t enough against a strong team.
What were the other reasons for the defeat for Fischer? “The match on Saturday cost us energy, we had a little less energy,” Fischer analyzed. Although the big dream was shattered once again, he had nothing but praise for his players: “It’s a team that gives everything, where everyone fights for each other. I’ve never seen a team with such team spirit.” And he immediately looked ahead: “Today we are at rock bottom. But everyone who follows us and knows the team knows that we will not give up. We are learning and we are moving on.”
At this point, I don’t care that I’m the MVP.
More Swiss voices on the lost World Cup final:
- Kevin Fiala, MVP of the World Cup: “We lost the final. It’s a shame, a real shame. It’s difficult to deal with these emotions right now. At the moment, all we can think about is the thought of losing the final, but in a few days we’ll be proud of what we achieved. We really wanted to win this final. It was a close game from start to finish. At the moment, I don’t care about being the MVP. We wanted gold here.”
- Andres Ambühl: “It’s not what we hoped for and what we wanted. It hurts when you’re so close, but in the end it’s still not enough. At some point we’ll probably be happy that we played a good tournament. But at the moment – and probably for a few days to come – the disappointment over the final defeat will be deep. Both teams defended excellently, but in the end it was small things that made the difference.”