- The Swiss U21 team lost 3-1 to Romania at the end of the European Championship qualification.
- After Luca Jaquez was sent off, the Swiss played 60 minutes more than the number in Bucharest.
- As Finland wins the tie against Montenegro, Switzerland only takes third place in the group and misses the 2025 finals.
Less than half an hour had been played in Bucharest when events began to unfold in the Giulesti Stadium, which opened in 2022. After a foul by Luca Jaquez, Romania’s coach, Daniel Pancu, came onto the field with anger and he swore at the referee. Not only was Pancu shown the red card as a result, Jaquez was also sent off for obstruction – he hit his opponent at shoulder height with an open foot.
Just minutes later, the hosts used their numerical advantage to score their second goal. Ianis Stoica (35th) completed a wonderful combination for the Romanians to make it 2-0. The striker became a double goalscorer. In the 16th minute, he gave the home team the lead with his first action.
Switzerland does not give up
Despite being 2-0 down and one man down, the Swiss continued to believe they had a chance after the break. With a simultaneous draw and loss of points for Finland against Montenegro, second place in the group and therefore at least participation in the playoffs was possible for the U21 national team.
And Albian Hajdari (65th) actually got the goal with a header. Alvyn Sanches, who had not had much success on the right wing before, handled the ball with a nice dribble before taking it to the center with great effort.
No help from Montenegro
A draw that could have been a distant prospect for the Swiss came immediately. Umit Akdag (68th) beat Marvin Keller in a spot kick after the YB keeper made a strong save from a corner. Almost at the same time, the Finns took the lead 2-1 in the parallel game against Montenegro.
These results remained the same in Bucharest and Tampere. And Switzerland only came third in the group behind Romania and Finland. Next summer’s finals in Slovakia will be held without Switzerland. Recently they were able to qualify for the European Championships twice in a row. This time they lost a good starting position in the last two games.
2024-10-15 19:32:00
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