Edited by: Caitlin Dillon
Vladimir Petkovic's Swiss side loses international friendly against
Qatar 1-0 in Lugano
In the 86th minute Akram Afif scores the winning goal for the
96th-ranked team.
The Swiss show a weak performance but have bad luck, hitting the
woodwork twice.
In the 86th minute, an already gloomy
evening before just over 4,000 spectators at the Cornaredo Stadium in Lugano
only got worse. After losing the ball to the Swiss, Akram Afif was able to regain
possession and bag the only goal of the match. The striker allowed Yvon Mvogo
out of goal, before pushing for the 1-0 win for the Qataris.
Home
series ends brutally
The Swiss subsequently tried to avert
the embarrassment, but it appeared to be too late. It was not only a bitter loss
for the Swiss, at the same time it was also the end of an era. In 12 home games
Switzerland had been unbeaten.
Weak appearance from Switzerland
The defeat was the result of a weak
appearance from Switzerland. On the pitch in Lugano, the hosts had more game
play over long stretches. But ultimately, the full commitment was missing.
Against a strong Qatari defence, the
Swiss rarely got good chances. The best chances went to Michael Lang with a
post-header in the 36th minute and Christian Fassnacht, who hit the crossbar in
the 53rd minute.
Qatar with committed performance
And so Qatar celebrated at the end of
an earned victory. The outsider played well and could have been rewarded earlier
in the game. Captain Hassan Al Haydos missed twice in the 23rd minute. In the
25th minute, Afif took on Mvogo alone, but put the ball too far ahead. The
referee was not fooled by his subsequent plight for a penalty.
Lacroix and Benito with premieres
Vladimir Petkovic had to give up
several injured players in Lugano. So Léo Lacroix and Loris Benito were two
debutants in the starting line-up of the Swiss. After a very weak first half, the
Swiss coach made four substitutes at half time. However, this did not result in
more than a slight increase in stamina.
Petkovic now must make amends in their battle
against Belgium on Sunday.