Found an error?
Report now
Ruben Vargas didn’t have a bad game against Qatar, but he missed two chances.
Imago
Switzerland conceded the 1-1 equalizer against Qatar in the 4th minute of stoppage time and had to settle for a draw. Online, the national team is being lambasted following the disappointing performance.
Argentina lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in their opening match at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and went on to win the World Cup. Germany kicked off the 2014 tournament with a spectacular 4-0 win over Portugal, but then dropped points against Ghana (2-2) and later only advanced past the Round of 16 against Algeria (2-1 in extra time) with a lot of luck. In 2010, Spain became world champions for the first time, despite suffering a 0-1 loss in their opener against the Swiss, who were not yet considered a top contender at the time.
So a 1-1 draw against Qatar in the opener doesn’t mean the World Cup is over just yet. If you search the internet long—really long—enough, you’ll find posts that point in that direction.
Easier to find are posts in which the team is dragged through the mud. Want some examples?
“You’re the worst team in the World Cup, impressive,” writes “Cadizon” on X. “Go home. Embarrassing,” says Twitter user “Lars Weiss.” So far, so good; you can easily dismiss that as freedom of speech. Although it would certainly be something if the Swiss were to pack their bags and actually fly home now. But “Lars Weiss” isn’t saying they aren’t allowed to come back for the next game.
But there are also comments that violate every rule of social media etiquette. “Kai Bee,” for example, is particularly angry, because he apparently bet on Switzerland and has now been robbed of his payday: “These stupid jerks always bet on cheese and chocolate—you ruined my parlay bet, you idiots!” Should they have bet on fondue and raclette instead during the preparation?
User “Joseph Kweku ahmed” is also really pissed off: “Only animals would support these useless, good-for-nothing players… may lightning strike you corrupt players.” And the man is so upset that, in true Trump style, he fires off another post just three minutes later—this time directed straight at FIFA: “Get serious and take action against corrupt countries like Switzerland before the bookmakers ruin this tournament... This game was rigged.”
These are truly comments that shouldn’t really be given a platform. Why do we do it anyway? Because it shows what’s going on in some people’s minds after a game like this and what the Swiss national team is being bombarded with. Of course, they won’t read all of this, but some of it—and likely even more vile things—will also pop up in their direct messages.
There are also a few comments under blue Sport’s results post on Instagram, but—at least as of midnight—they’re absolutely within the bounds of what’s tolerable. One person misses Shaqiri, who was sorely missed everywhere, others are laughing their heads off because Switzerland supposedly wants to become world champions, and still others prove that they could start out as experts tomorrow, because they know: “If you don’t score up front, you’ll just get scored on in the back.”
Of course, we’re jumping right in and saying: “Keep it low and win it high!” We should start with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then we’ll soon be living a great summer fairy tale.
