Nati victory: Ouchy’s fan zone in turmoil

“There is a goal, he is crazy, the referee, there is no offside”, exclaims with passion the owner of the Swiss food stand “Hans Grüezi” behind his counter while grilling a steak this Saturday afternoon. Twelfth minute of play in the Switzerland-Hungary match, Kwadwo Duah’s shot was canceled for offside, before finally being validated. Among the hundreds of supporters present in front of the giant screen at the Place de la Navigation in Ouchy, there was an explosion.

The Nati opened the score and the Lausanne quays began to quiver under an almost blazing sun. The red and white flags are waved with pride and the vuvuzelas sound loud and clear. “But it’s just beautiful!” the commentators shout.

From his street food stand of revisited Swiss cuisine, Gruyerian Sébastien Cadoux, former player of the national under-17 team and right midfielder for Servette FC, is looking forward to this next month of thrilling to the matches of the Euro. On the menu: röstis and fries or steak and raclette. If he has always supported the Nati, he does not hide his skepticism regarding the choice of players made by Murat Yakin. “I ask to see this new team configuration, I’m not convinced yet.”

And the crowd rocks

In the middle of the crowd, Jules and David, teammates in 3^e league at FC Vignoble, wearing their most beautiful Swiss jerseys, insist on the determining role of this match for the Nati at Euro 2024. “This match is super important! If they win it, there is a good chance they will qualify, given that in their group Scotland are rather worse and Germany better.

The minutes tick by and the pressure builds on the shores of Lake Geneva as the match slowly draws to a close. Ninety minutes have passed, the Swiss dominate 2-1, a few minutes of stoppage time are added to the clock. To everyone’s surprise, Embolo scores at 93^e minute. Faced with the deliverance, the two work colleagues Viviana and Laura cannot contain their excitement and jump for joy. “There is southern blood flowing in our veins, so we experience football matches with intensity,” they joke.

The crowd rocks. The hundreds of people present this Saturday at Place de la Navigation sing in chorus “po po po po po po po” and wave their flags in the sky. “It gives hope for the future. This is not a Switzerland we are used to seeing. For once, they were fast and technical. There was like an alchemy on the pitch between the Nati players today, it’s nice,” says Grégory, who came with his son and his wife. Around the fan zone, we don’t hear much anymore. The horns that ring out in the streets of Lausanne have taken over.

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