Interview with hockey captain Raphael Diaz

Raphael Diaz, the start of the Olympic tournament was anything but successful for the Swiss national ice hockey team. Three games with three defeats: You probably imagined the whole thing differently.

Logically, the disappointment was huge, especially after the Denmark game (3:5 defeat – ed.). We cannot accept services like that. But now we had some time to recharge the batteries. We had Sunday off, on Monday we trained again. Now we must attack. I really hope that we all learned something from last week’s three games.

What conclusions do you draw from these games?

Clearly, we received too many penalties. And against Denmark we weren’t as stable defensively as in the first two games against the Russians and the Czechs. We can’t afford to concede four goals in one match (the fifth fell into the empty box – ed.) at this level.

The opening game against the Russians was good. After that, the shape curve pointed downwards. How do you explain that?

I look at every match over the full 60 minutes. Not everything was bad against Denmark either. We started well, took the lead and I was happy with the reaction in the last third. But we had a slump in the second period. That will not do. Nevertheless, I saw a lot of things in the first two games that give me courage. Now we have to implement it.

What did you do on the day off?

That was different. A few players went to a competition. I stayed in the Olympic Village. I went for a short jog. After that we played some cards. What do you do to stop your thoughts?

Defensively and offensively there seemed to be a lack of consistency in the first few games.

That may be true against Denmark. But in the other two games we had our chances on offense. We hit the post three times against Russia. But that can happen. The games at international level are always close. Patience often decides. But the work begins on the defensive. It is crucial that we lay a base there. Then we’ll get our chances offensively.

The preparation for the Olympic Games was anything but ideal. The two planned test matches had to be cancelled. As soon as you were in Beijing, Denis Malgin and Dario Simion had to go into quarantine. How much of an impact did that have on the disappointing start?

We were prepared that the circumstances would be special. Of course the two friendlies would have helped us. But that’s the way it was. I don’t want to use that as an excuse. The first match against the Russians wasn’t bad. You have to take it as it comes.

You loudly shook up your team-mates on the bench in the game against the Danes. How far can a captain get involved in such a phase? Does the experience help you?

I simply appealed to my team-mates to avoid so-called simple penalties. This is something we can control. We kept breaking our own rhythm with the penalties. It becomes difficult to create something offensively. Of course, experience helps. But I’m not the only one who has taken part in big tournaments like this one. Now it’s on to the knockout phase. Games like in the play-offs follow. As an athlete you have to love games like this. And despite everything that went wrong, we’re still alive in sport.

You play in the so-called pre-quarterfinals against the Czech Republic, an opponent you met in the group stage. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?

There are pros and cons. We know the way the Czechs play. That can help. We knew beforehand that they are extremely quick to go on the offensive. I noticed that in the first match. As soon as they have the disc, three players jump towards the offensive. Sometimes they even speculate a little. We have to be prepared for that. I assume that there will be a very close match again. In such games, it is usually the over- and undernumbered game that decides. It is all the more important to remain really disciplined.

Switzerland has not had a better record against any of the top nations in the past ten years than against the Czechs. Five out of nine games were won at World Championships and Olympic Games. Two of the four defeats came about in the penalty shootout. At the World Cup a year ago in Riga, the Czech Republic was defeated 5:2. Does that give you extra confidence?

What’s over is over. I think these results don’t matter much. More important than what has been in the past ten years is the match we lost in a penalty shootout a few days ago. We start again from the score of 0:0, everything else is unimportant. We know the strengths of the Czechs. They are a great hockey nation. At the same time, we know that we are now on an equal footing with them. But to have a chance we have to be ready and do our best. If we don’t succeed, it will hardly be enough to win.