15.10.2024 19:38
U21: Switzerland loses in Romania and misses qualification for the Euro
The Swiss U21 team lost 3-1 in Romania. Despite a long numerical inferiority, Sascha Stauch’s team showed bravery, but this defeat and the simultaneous victory of Finland at home made them miss qualification for the next Euro.
The start of the match is still promising. The Swiss have a lot of ball possession and create the first promising chance through Albian Hajdari. But as in the first leg (2:2), the Romanians coolly exploited their chances. Stoica uses a cross pass down the middle to give the hosts the lead. Just five minutes later, Bradley Fink had the opportunity to equalize. The FC Basel striker is launched deep and appears alone in front of goalkeeper Sava. But his lob misses the cage.
After half an hour, scenes of tumult broke out. Luca Jaquez hits his opponent with a high leg. Before the referee shows yellow, the Romanian coach bursts onto the field, protests and sees red. Jaquez was then sent off in his turn, along with a replacement Romanian player.
Hope remains
In the 35th minute, the Romanians completed a series of balls for 2:0, Stoica scored twice. But at this point, hope remains for the U21s. In the parallel match, Finland and Montenegro are tied 1:1 and the Swiss are still in contention for the play-offs. After the change of sides, Switzerland did not give up and played happily forward. Franck Surdez fails with a good attempt on Sava.
After 65 minutes, they managed to score the winning goal. Alvyn Sanches dribbles down the right side and his cross finds Hajdari’s head in the middle. But almost immediately, Romania restored the gap. After a corner, the ball arrives at Akdag who makes it 3:1.
Meanwhile, things got tougher for the U21s when Finland opened the scoring. Switzerland continues to play valiantly forward, but outnumbered, it can no longer do much. The M21 thus misses its third consecutive participation in the European Championship.
► Romania – Switzerland 3:1 (2:0)
► Tableau qualification Euro
ASF / translated with deepl / Photo: Keystone
