Switzerland started their Euro 2024 involvement in a very good way, by beating Group A rivals Hungary 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne in the opening round. Their victory follows that of Germany over Scotland by 5-1 in the tournament opener the previous evening.
Switzerland were ahead in the 22nd minute through Kwadwo Duah, and having assisted that goal with a brilliant pass, Michel Aebischer doubled their lead in the 45th. A deft header from Barnabas Varga assisted by Dominik Szoboslai in the 66th offered hope for Hungary, but Breel Embolo put the game beyond their reach by scoring Switzerland’s third goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
The teams
Both coaches set their teams up in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Hungary boss Marco Rossi chose Adam Lang, Willi Orban and Attila Szalai as the back three ahead of goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, with Adam Nagy and Andras Schafer tasked with doing the hard work in the middle of the park, flanked by Milos Kerkez and Attila Fiola as the wing-backs. Szoboszlai and Roland Sallai played in advanced roles, behind Varga as the striker.
Meanwhile, Murat Yakin in the Swiss dugout had Yann Sommer in goal, with Ricardo Rodriguez and Fabian Schar either side of Manuel Akanji in defence. Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler paired up in midfield, with Aebischer and Silvan Widmer covering the flanks. Ruben Vargas and Dan Ndoye supported Duah upfront.
The game
Switzerland took control of the proceedings straight away. They kept the ball deep in the Hungary half for most of the first 45 minutes, applying strong pressure on their opponents and winning the ball relentlessly back time and again. Rossi’s men found it very difficult to get organized and move forward, and only the quality of Gulacsi stood between them and the certainty of defeat before halftime already.
The RB Leipzig shot-stopper did a fantastic job of preventing Vargas from doubling Switzerland’s lead soon after…
Author : Veselin Trajkovic
Publish date : 2024-06-15 19:51:21
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Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-06-15 20:39:40
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.