Murat Yakin was on his way to the 1994 World Cup, but then missed the tournament. The reason: a late trip to the bar. In the football talk Heimspiel, the current national team coach talks about this chapter and takes a look at discipline in football.
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- Murat Yakin was scheduled by national team coach Roy Hodgson for the 1994 World Cup, but missed the tournament after being caught late at the bar with teammates.
- The current Nati coach emphasizes in the football talk show "Heimspiel" that it is important to maintain discipline, but also to leave room for manoeuvre.
For the first time in 28 years, after 13 unsuccessful World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, Switzerland reached the World Cup finals again in 1994. Ten national coaches were worn out during this period before Roy Hodgson opened the door to a final tournament again.
The Englishman originally wanted to take Murat Yakin with him for the long-awaited USA adventure. Hodgson even put pressure on Murat - together with his younger brother Hakan - to be naturalized a few months before the tournament.
However, the neo-Swiss player's first time with the national team did not go according to plan. Assistant coach Hans-Peter "Bidu" Zaugg catches him sitting at the bar with teammates for too long. "I wasn't the only one. Ciri (Ciriaco Sforza) was there and so were other GC colleagues. Obviously that didn't go down well with a young player. So unfortunately I missed out on the World Cup," Murat Yakin tells blue Sport's football talk show Heimspiel. "I can't buy anything with it, but 20 years later Roy Hodgson publicly apologized for it. I thought that was a great gesture," he says.
Andy Böni wants to know what time it was. "It would have been bedtime at 11pm. At half past eleven we were still at the bar with the lads, having a drink and talking to each other. So we didn't do anything wrong," says Yakin.
Yakin: "It's unprofessional when other people see you"
Böni reminds us that such cases can also be handled differently. "Mario Basler drank beer before the 1999 Champions League final, but always performed well afterwards. Ottmar Hitzfeld turned a blind eye to him." According to the editor-in-chief of blue Sport, the former Bayern coach was "known as a tough coach".
Nowadays, you are so under control that you can't afford to do anything, says Yakin, adding: "There are rules that we have to abide by. If you're in the bar for half an hour or an hour on match day minus 1, it's unprofessional if other people see you," he says. Even as a national team coach, he had to be consistent.
"You can't play poker in public in the bar. But maybe having a drink is no problem," says the 51-year-old.
Frei: "Muri would turn a blind eye"
Fabian Frei, who played 101 games under Yakin (91 for FCB, 10 for the national team), adds: "If you do it, don't let it get to you. Maybe not right at the hotel bar where everyone is." The 37-year-old emphasizes that "the timing is extremely important". "Match day minus one might not be so clever. Match day plus one after the game or during the week, I'm sure Muri would turn a blind eye if it stays at half an hour. It's different at 2 o'clock in the morning than at half past eleven in the evening," says Frei.
Böni asks Yakin whether anything has changed when it comes to alcohol, saying: "People certainly drank more in your day than they do now, didn't they?" "No, it's not about alcohol," says Yakin and continues: "It's about being alone in the room all the time. It gets a bit cramped. You want to be outside with your colleagues or in the bar, I have absolutely no problem with that. Everyone just has to know when to do it."
Yakin's conclusion: "Getting caught is not a problem for me. We're all disciplined, but you also have to give yourself some freedom."
