UEFA Euro: German Papers Reflect on Swiss Win against Hungary

German newspapers have described the 3-1 victory of the Switzerland national football team over Hungary in the first round of the UEFA Euro 2024 as deserved and clear-cut.

In its report, Bild pointed out that questions about the Swiss team had been raised after a bumpy qualification, and these were only increased when it was revealed what line-up would be fielded against Hungary. “In the first half, Switzerland was clearly the better team against Hungary, who were particularly poor defensively, thus the two-goal lead at the break was more than deserved,” the paper wrote. It added that

Hungary’s play improved somewhat after the half-time, but Swiss head coach Murat Yakin sent in Breel Embolo for the second half, who scored the final goal for Switzerland.

Die Welt reported that Switzerland, who had played much better and with a great deal of dominance in the first half, “needed luck” in the second half to win the game. The newspaper called the Swiss victory “well deserved,” while the Hungarian national team’s performance was “disappointing.”

In its summary of the match, Die Zeit described the Swiss victory as a clear-cut one, pointing out that head coach Yakin’s men started the match with confidence and dominated from the first minute.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, it was clear which team will be the strongest opponent of the hosts Germany in the group. The paper reported that Switzerland recorded an “unexpectedly dominant” victory over Hungary, in which Yakin’s surprising line-up and substitutions played a key role.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published a lengthy report on the match entitled “Switzerland does not want to ‘hide from anyone,'” and stressed that the solid performance against Hungary made it very likely that the Swiss would reach the last eight.

Germany is currently in top Group A, ahead of Switzerland with a similar three-point lead but a worse goal difference, with Hungary third, and Scotland fourth.

The Hungarian national football team kicked off the European Championship against Switzerland at 3 p.m. on Saturday. At least 5,000 Hungarian fans marched in an organized procession to the venue in Cologne.

Marco Rossi opted for Péter Gulácsi in goal, as he did at the 2021 European Championship. As expected, Ádám Lang and Willi Orbán lined up in defense, with Attila Szalai on the left. Attila Fiola, who has recovered from a broken collarbone, was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up. Milos Kerkez supported the attack on the left, while Ádám Nagy and András Schäfer were the national team midfielders. The attacking trio was formed by team captain Dominik Szoboszlai, Roland Sallai, and two-time Hungarian top scorer Barnabás Varga.

In the 12th minute of the first half, an opposition goal was declared valid, putting Hungary 1-0 behind Switzerland. In the 45th minute, Michel Aebischer got the ball after a Hungarian mistake and scored the final goal of the first half. In the second half, Hungary attacked more actively. In the 66th minute, a cross from Szoboszlai was headed into the bottom left corner of the goal by Varga (2:1). Although the Hungarian national football team played better in the second half, Breel Embolo’s goal in the 93rd minute decided Switzerland’s 3:1 victory.

On Wednesday, Hungary will face hosts Germany, who won their opening match against Scotland 5:1 in Stuttgart on Friday.

Via MTI, Ungarn Heute; Featured image via MTI/Illyés Tibor