Swiss crash out of World Cup after ‘Debacle of Doha’
A 6-1 hammering by Portugal has brought an end to Switzerland’s football World Cup adventure in Qatar, with the Swiss media criticising both the tactics of manager Murat Yakin and the performance of the team, whose meagre attack was as much to blame as their leaky defence.
“Dream over,” summed up the Tages-Anzeiger. “Has anyone ever seen Murat Yakin gaze so blankly into the distance? His team wanted to make history at this World Cup in the desert. But then it’s as if someone had ordered the ‘Swiss last 16 special’– as in 2018 against Sweden and as in 2006 against Ukraine, Switzerland played a knockout match as though they’d been woken up in their bed five minutes before the match and first gone in search of a triple espresso. The Swiss are weak.”
Switzerland still haven’t reached the last eight at the World Cup since 1954 but they had been impressive in qualifying for Qatar, edging out Italy to top their group after a run of five wins and three draws while scoring a respectable 15 goals. Their group stage performance was equally steady, but the major difference to their qualifying campaign was that any semblance of attacking verve deserted them on arrival in Qatar, just when they needed it most. Against Portugal they froze.
“The darkest night,” reckoned the Corriere del Ticino. “The most shameful and therefore the most painful. We wanted to make history and instead we finish the World Cup with the worst ending.”
“The debacle of Doha,” added Le Temps in Geneva. “Switzerland leave the World Cup through the very small door, slapped in the face by Portugal, who didn’t even have to show all their talent to do it.”
Portugal manager Fernando Santos had started the match with ageing star Cristiano Ronaldo on the substitute bench and was rewarded with a far slicker and more artful display from his team than anything they had shown in the group stages. Switzerland were outplayed in every part of the pitch.
“Today we have to apologise to all Switzerland fans in the name of the team. That was not our true face tonight,” said Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri. “We’re very disappointed. We were shown our limits tonight. The gaffer gave us a plan but it didn’t work out for us.”
Yakin, whose contract with the national team runs for two more years, said Portugal had caught his side by surprise. “We must accept this defeat and congratulate Portugal. They were the best team this evening, ” he said. “We lost a match today but that doesn’t mean we have to be too pessimistic and criticise everything. The team has shown great team spirit. But this defeat hurts. The score and the manner of the loss sadden me.”
‘Evening to forget’
“That was fado, dear national team,” said Blick, referring to the Portuguese genre of music known for its mournful tunes and lyrics. “What an embarrassment. Switzerland as full of holes as an Emmental [cheese]. Even at the fifth attempt the team fails to make it into the World Cup quarterfinals. But Switzerland has never failed as badly as in the Lusail Stadium. For once, the Swiss collective completely fell apart.”
For the Neue Zürcher Zeitung the Swiss side simply wasn’t ready. “But that’s exactly what matters – being ready when it matters. What consequences the humiliation will have remains to be seen. What’s clear, however, is that something is wrong with this team.”
Only news portal Watson.ch didn’t put the boot in completely, expressing some sympathy. “It’s easy to lay into the Swiss national players now. Or their manager Murat Yakin. Switzerland must certainly question themselves after this game and analyse the weak performance. But they shouldn’t be ashamed of this performance. And the strong performances in the group matches absolutely shouldn’t be swept aside because of one evening to forget.”
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