The team of national coach Murat Yakin lost control of the match in Copenhagen after a controversial sending off. The Danish goals came in the final phase, when the Swiss suddenly had only nine players on the field.
“Completely incomprehensible”, “beyond good and evil”, “a blatant wrong decision”: That was the tone of the Swiss after the 0:2 defeat against Denmark. It was the sending off of Nico Elvedi that threw Murat Yakin’s team off balance shortly after the break and steered the game in a direction that the Swiss were not mentally able to deal with against the cool Danes. But from the very beginning.
The decision of the German referee Daniel Siebert was indeed difficult to understand. He initially decided on a penalty in this scene, but was called to the screen by the VAR. Siebert took back the penalty, but assessed Elvedi’s fall on the foot of the running Kasper Dolberg as a foul, even though the Danish striker had pulled the Swiss defender to the ground with his arm trapped. Siebert had evidently only assessed the situation when Elvedi fell on Dolbert’s foot, and not how it came about. But mistakes happen. A mature team should know how to deal with that.
The referee error throws the Swiss off balance
The Swiss were understandable to be angry, but they were not the first team in the history of football to have to accept a wrong decision from the referee. Coach Murat Yakin, to whom Siebert briefly explained his view of things after the match, brought in Gregory Wüthrich, who did well on his debut as a national player. The Swiss came pretty close to holding on to a 0-0 draw – until substitute Patrick Dorgu scored the 1-0 for the Danes in the 82nd minute, setting off a hectic, spiteful final phase.
This is probably the most ridiculous red card since the introduction of VAR #DENSUI #NationsLeague #Uefa pic.twitter.com/ZluZcnd5Pq
— Nik Doemer (@nikdoemer) September 5, 2024
The focus was on Swiss captain Granit Xhaka, who complained to Dane Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg that the Danes had not stopped the game even though Breel Embolo was lying on the ground. A scuffle broke out and Xhaka and Höjbjerg were cautioned. Shortly afterwards, Xhaka fouled Höjbjerg in frustration and was shown a yellow-red card. When Höjbjerg scored the 2-0 in the 92nd minute, it seemed like a mocking comment on Xhaka’s behavior.
“I know it was a mistake and shouldn’t have happened – but it still happened,” said Xhaka after the match about the unnecessary foul that led to the expulsion. A lot of things came together, the Danes showed no respect and ignored fair play. The captain will be absent from Sunday’s home game against Spain. “I will probably stay with the team until after the game anyway,” said Xhaka. Swiss coach Murat Yakin backed his most important player. “A lot of things came together, I can understand that Granit was angry,” said Yakin.
The beautiful days of the European Championship in Germany were suddenly a long way off after two sendings off and a clear defeat. Yakin had done a lot to ensure that the Swiss would quickly catch up with the energy level and style of the tournament in Germany. Yakin’s surprise was that there were no surprises: apart from the retired Fabian Schär and Yann Sommer and the injured Dan Ndoye, he used the same starting lineup as against England in the European Championship quarter-finals.
Solid, but little drive in the offensive
That looked pretty good in the tactically focused first half. Gregor Kobel radiated confidence on his debut as number one, impressed in the opening play and prevented a deficit against Albert Grönbaek and Kasper Dolberg in a 1-on-1. Kobel only came up short when the goal was scored against him, as he did not protect the near corner of the goal sufficiently. Nico Elvedi in the right center and Silvan Widmer on the right wing were the cautious option.
The Swiss didn’t manage much offensively, but they did show with a header from Widmer that the plan to advance down the flanks was a viable option against a solid Denmark team. But after Elvedi was sent off, it became clear that the Swiss lacked the class to defy adversity and keep their nerve.
Yakin and his team can therefore take little positive from their second Nations League match in Geneva against European champions Spain, who played a 0-0 draw with Serbia. Denis Zakaria will probably take Xhaka’s place; the in-form captain of AS Monaco showed good potential in his brief appearance. Debutant Wüthrich has also recommended himself for a place in the three-man defense. Above all, however, it will be a matter of Yakin and his team dealing with the anger of an unjustified sending off as quickly as possible – and forgetting it.