- The national team wins its opening match in Group A of the European Championship against Hungary 3-1 in front of 41,676 fans in Cologne.
- The Swiss goals were scored by Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer before half-time and Breel Embolo in injury time.
- After Barnabas Varga shortened the lead in the second half, the Nati had to worry about the three points for a long time.
- Already on Friday evening, Germany won the opening match against Scotland 5-1.
Before the game could continue, Hungary’s goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi had to clear his penalty area of the many beer cups that had flown onto the pitch in Cologne from the euphoric Swiss sector after Breel Embolo had scored the 3-1 for the national team in injury time and emotions had run high in the Swiss camp.
It should also be the final point of an entertaining opening match for the Nati with ups and downs at the EURO – and the just reward for a strong performance, especially before the break.
Surprise duo decides game
Xherdan Shaqiri? All-purpose weapon Renato Steffen? Or perhaps a quick recovery for Steven Zuber? In the run-up to Switzerland’s first match at the finals in Germany, there was a lot of speculation about Murat Yakin’s offensive line-up.
But in the end, the national coach surprised everyone and pulled Kwadwo Duah out of the hat as a striker for Zeki Amdouni and Michel Aebischer. The 3-4-2-1 formation was intended to strengthen the wing positions and give the center forward position some power.
Legend:
The beginning of success
Kwadwo Duah celebrates his goal to make it 1-0.
Keystone/DPA/Marius Becker
Yakin’s plan worked – and how:
- 12 minutes: Aebischer runs free between the lines and serves Duah with a wonderful through ball. It’s 1-0 for the Nati.
- 45th minute: Dan Ndoye and Ruben Vargas pursue a lost ball in the penalty area. The ball lands via Remo Freuler at Aebischer, who finds plenty of space and increases the score to 2-0 with a well-considered shot from the edge of the penalty area.
For the duo, who once played several games together in the YB youth team, it was their first goal in the Swiss jersey. Duah scored in his second appearance, Aebischer in his 21st.
Szoboszlai hardly noticeable
Even apart from the two goals, the Swiss team was convincing. Led by captain Granit Xhaka, they had the ball most of the time and were dangerous time and again. Vargas missed the best chance to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes when he intervened in an inaccurate Hungarian build-up and failed to score alone in front of Leipzig goalkeeper Gulacsi.
The Hungarians were not dangerous from the game for a long time. Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai was rarely able to develop and kept changing sides of the attack. And even his actually dangerous free kicks did not pose a problem.
Varga changes everything
Only after an hour did this change, when Barnabas Varga came into action and the Swiss national team increasingly lost control of the game:
- After Ricardo Rodriguez slipped, the Hungarian top scorer shot over the goal in the 62nd minute, alone in front of Yann Sommer. It is not clear whether he was actually offside, as referee Slavko Vincic decided.
- A minute later, his header after a precise cross from Roland Sallai lands just wide of the goal.
- In the 66th minute it happened. Varga beat Aebischer at the far post and headed in a cross from Szoboszlai to make it 1-2.
Many things are going well for the national team
The 29-year-old thus ignited the mood among the Hungarian fans. Yakin reacted with a double substitution (Leonidas Stergiou for the early-booked Silvan Widmer and Amdouni for Duah) and shortly afterwards also swapped Embolo, who had been injured for a long time, for Ruben Vargas.
With his substitutions, Yakin actually managed to get the national team back on track. In the final phase, they initially missed the chance to make it 3-1 with a header from Xhaka and a charge from substitute Fabian Rieder. Then, following a mistake from Willi Orban, Embolo secured the final result and a perfect start to the European Championship.
This is how it continues
The national team will travel back to camp in Stuttgart by train on Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, the players will have a regeneration session before they really get going in the second group game against Scotland on Monday. The national team will then play against the “Bravehearts” again in Cologne on Wednesday at 9 p.m.