Is the 28:28 against the Faroe Islands at the start of the European Championship a point gained or lost for the Swiss? Comments on the game.
17.01.2026, 05:00
17.01.2026, 07:54
SDA
The Swiss conceded 28:28 three seconds before the end after Manuel Zehnder had missed a top chance to make it 29:27 shortly beforehand. So the answer is clear, isn't it? No, because coach Andy Schmid's team trailed 13:19 in the 36th minute. At this point, the Swiss would probably have signed for a draw without hesitation.
This raises another question, namely whether the glass is half full or half empty. Schmid: "I try to be tough with the players and with myself. In the end, you have to say that it was an extremely complicated task. They find a lot of solutions because they have two incredible players in Oli Mittun and Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu (scored seven goals each). They also had more than a home advantage. But we held out, and the fact that we came out of an incredibly precarious phase in the second half and had the win in our own hands at the end makes me extremely proud. That's why I see the glass half full. We want to take the positives from this game with us."
Manuel Zehnder could have crowned his strong performance with a 29:27 win in only his fourth game after a one-year break due to a cruciate ligament rupture. He had scored six out of eight shots before the bitter miss. Of course, the 26-year-old director was very annoyed that he was unable to secure the win: "But I think I've had enough setbacks in my career to deal with them.
Zehnder also used the word "proud". How was it possible to react after 13:19? "We had to stay calm and believe in our plan, and that's what we did." On the weak phase after the break, he said: "You'll never be able to play at your best for 60 minutes, that's not possible. But the dip today was very glaring."
On Sunday, the Swiss will face Slovenia in their second game. The Olympic fourth-placed team also delivered a thriller in their 41:40 win against Montenegro. Zehnder emphasized that anyone could beat anyone in their group. "We absolutely need the two points if we want to go far in this tournament. If we bring the emotion and fight for 60 minutes like we did today, then we'll be successful against Slovenia."
