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Untouchable in Switzerland, captain Natan Jurkovitz and Friborg Olympic must have European ambitions. © Keystone
Published on 07.05.2024
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Friborg Olympic remains untouchable! However, the renewal of a large part of the squad in the off-season, the change of coach and the growing appetite for reinforced opponents had raised questions. The failed qualifications in the Champions League and the big defeat in the Super Cup had even given rise to some doubts. Doubts quickly swept aside by a group united as never before and hungry for victories, to the point of having an almost perfect season – only three defeats – punctuated by three new trophies.
What more? Not much. This Tuesday, Olympic even equaled the record for consecutive titles held for almost 70 years by Jonction Genève (champion from 1952 to 1957). A performance that says a lot about the current domination of the Friborg people. But this supremacy, as brilliant as it may be, does not only have good sides. It stirs up jealousy at the national level and wears out the public. Including that of Fribourg, as evidenced by the drop in attendance in the stands of Saint-Léonard. The weariness is obvious. Why travel (and pay) when the outcome of the matches and the championship is a foregone conclusion?
Olympic equaled the record for consecutive titles held for nearly 70 years by Jonction Genève
This situation will continue. By continuing to focus on its core of players and its coach, Olympic will continue its harvest. Today, it’s time to think bigger. Across borders. Europe has a cost, but the Friborg club must make it an objective. Not by going there from time to time with the means at hand, but by planning its participation over the long term and adapting its workforce to meet continental requirements. Olympic would thus offer itself a new challenge. A challenge that would push him to grow, surpass himself and excel, because in Switzerland, he really has nothing left to prove.
