It started with Hungary, a little hour before Switzerland, at the end of the afternoon in the belly of the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne. Marco Rossi was on a platform, where Murat Yakin was going to succeed him. This is always the time to talk about the opponent and there were no surprises.
“Switzerland has a lot of strong points,” said Hungary’s Italian coach. She is solid in defense, she is very strong in the middle and she is very technical up front. And there is Xhaka, one of the best players in the world, a key element for Switzerland. But not just him: Akanji Rodriguez, Vargas, Freuler, I could name all the Swiss players.
GOOD. Almost makes you wonder if Hungary has the slightest chance of doing something against this Swiss monster, so strong and superior everywhere. We will have understood, it is traditional, each coach places the opponent on a platform, right up there. Every flatterer lives at the expense of the one who listens to him, so we must be careful.
With less tweezers, Bendeguz Bolla, present shortly before and who will start this Saturday, said things bluntly: “We have no reason to be afraid, launched the ex-Servettian. There’s Xhaka, okay. But we also have our strengths.”
Murat Yakin then arrived, accompanied by Granit Xhaka, precisely. Lots of smiles between the two. Here too you have to show yourself in your best light. A lot of reverence to the opponent as well, this Hungary.
“Yes, a lot of strengths in this Hungarian team,” Yakin said. A very united team. The Hungarians are going to give us a hard time.”
After the praise, we await the match this Saturday, kick-off at 3 p.m. On the ground, Switzerland and Hungary will bow less.
