Promoted Thun are on the verge of winning the league title despite a late defeat against Lugano. Cult coach Hanspeter Latour proudly looks back on the development of his favorite club in an interview with blue Sport.
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- Cult coach Hanspeter Latour wants to witness FC Thun's possible championship celebrations in the stadium on Saturday.
- Latour, who once led Thun to the top division, also sees the success as a result of his earlier work with today's key players. With a view to his 80th birthday, he describes the possible championship as "awesome".
Hanspeter Latour will not want to miss the big championship party in the Stockhorn Arena on Saturday evening. Normally, the long-serving Thun coach, who achieved cult status throughout Switzerland with his style, has avoided the spotlight on the football stage for years.
But of course Latour does not want to miss what could be the biggest day in the club's 128-year history. According to Latour, he expected the promoted team to play a good role in the championship: "But for them to become Swiss champions now, that wouldn't be honest. But hoped, of course. The longer and the closer, the more," he smiles.
"Those away from home still doubted when we were 14 points ahead. At Basel or YB, they would have said - this shit is over," explains Latour. They were constantly waiting for Thun's collapse, but it never came. "Dä Chübel chunt uf Thun - hopefully hüt!", exults Latour and adds with a grin: "And otherwise just tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Laying the foundations for Thun's success story
The season is the "icing on the cake". "The fact that I can still experience this - I'll be eighty next year - is simply amazing," summarizes Latour.
The sprightly retired footballer with the incomparable wit brought FC Thun into the National League A (today's Super League) in 2002 and has long been an honorary member. His great charisma is also reflected in the fact that several former protégés - president Andres Gerber, coach Mauro Lustrinelli and assistant coach Nelson Ferreira - are today's success stories.
"I brought all three of them to Thun, so of course I'm delighted," he admits. He is not surprised by the careers of his former players: "Andi Gerber was captain and always took care of everything in the whole team, he helped me a lot. Mauro was a very valuable player, a clever rascal."
He may not have been the tallest, but he once scored a header against FC Basel: "(Pascal) Zuberbühler, (Marco) Zwyssig and (Murat) Yakin were all two heads taller than him," recalls Latour, summing up: "Someone like that becomes a clever coach - he knows where to run and how to set up."
