Italy finished 2-1 against Albania in Dortmund, after conceding the quickest goal in the history of the competition, while in Berlin the Spain-Croatia match ended 3- 0.
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Switzerland got off to a good start in their race for Euro 2024 by winning 3-1 against Hungary in Cologne.
Breel Embolo ran with his arms outstretched in celebration after his goal, which was a victory for the Swiss team and a triumphant return on a personal level.
Embolo had not played for Switzerland for 18 months, a succession of injuries nailing him to the bench of his club, Monaco, and his national team. These injuries robbed a player who had scored two goals in four matches at the last World Cup of momentum.
All that was clearly in the past when Embolo scored in added time to complete Switzerland’s 3-1 victory over Hungary in both teams’ first European Championship match.
The chance came out of nowhere — a Hungarian defender lost the ball — but Embolo’s lobbed shot over the goalkeeper made it look like he hadn’t missed anything.
“It was a very uncertain situation after the very serious and long injury and another one afterwards. We had hope”said Swiss coach Murat Yakin.
Embolo was unable to train with the team for most of the training camp and did not play in the two friendlies. But captain Granit Xhaka said Embolo was “a very, very important player for our team, both on and off the field.”
Switzerland led 2-0, but was in danger of letting the match slip away when Hungary woke up midway through the second half.
A tactical surprise paid off as Swiss coach Murat Yakin chose striker Kwadwo Duah and midfielder Michel Aebischer in his starting team, and they both scored.
Duah opened the scoring in his second match for Switzerland, shooting low to deceive goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi on a pass from Aebischer. The offside flag went up, but a lengthy video review confirmed the goal and a delighted Duah was surrounded by players from the Swiss bench.
Aebischer made it 2-0 just before half-time, finding space at the edge of the area to strike with a low curling shot that deceived Gulacsi.
Barnabas Varga’s diving header in the 66th minute from Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross led to celebrations for Hungary, with some of their die-hard fans wearing black t-shirts lighting flares. Hungary kept up the pressure thereafter, but were unable to score a second time before Embolo’s goal sealed the fate of the match.
Hungarian coach Marco Rossi said his team was “too passive” in the first half and that a “tactical misunderstanding” had allowed Aebischer to have too much time on the ball to shape the Swiss attacks.
Switzerland is second in Group A after Germany’s victory over Scotland (5-1) on Friday to open the tournament. Hungary suffered their first defeat in a competitive match since September 2022.
Switzerland’s next match will take place on Wednesday against Scotland.
The same day, Hungary will face Germany in a rematch of the last European Championship, where the two teams drew 2-2.
The “azzurri” return after conceding the fastest goal in the European championships
Meanwhile, in Dortmund, Italy got off to the worst possible start to defend its European champion titlebut fortunately things quickly improved.
Italy conceded the quickest goal in the tournament’s 64-year history — Albanian attacking midfielder Nedim Bajrami opened the scoring after only 23 seconds of play— to finally beat Albania 2-1 in a match full of atmosphere.
ADVERTISEMENTItaly are clearly more comfortable in the European Championship these days, as they attempt to win a record third title.
In Berlin, the Spain-Croatia match ended 3-0.
Lamine Yamal, 16 years oldbecame youngest player to participate in a European Championshipwhile the new Spanish generation swept away the Croatian challenge in the opening match.
Croatia will face Albania in Hamburg on Wednesday, while Spain will meet Italy in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday.
The knockout stage will begin on June 29 and the final will take place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July 15.
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