The Swiss can't hide their disappointment after losing the World Cup final at the reception in Kloten. Andres Ambühl, who is more than touched, is the most celebrated.
26.05.2025, 21:52
26.05.2025, 23:25
SDA
At 6.39 pm, the Swiss players and staff entered the packed arena in Kloten. The welcome was warm, but you could still feel the sting of disappointment after the 1:0 defeat after extra time in the final against the USA. Even when the "Stubete Gäng" sang the Swiss goal song "Richi" live, the players did not let themselves be carried away.
Are there still positive aspects, Patrick Fischer? "It would have been a perfect fairytale," said the national coach on stage. "We were convinced we would win. It was a shock." However, he had learned something. After losing the first three finals, he had gone to bed, "now I was going out. We would have liked to have won the gold medal, but the memories remain. That's the most important thing. And I'd much rather lose and be Swiss than American." Fischer's words drew thunderous applause.
When asked what he was taking with him for next year's home World Championships in Zurich and Fribourg, one of the audience members called out: "Büeli". He was referring to record-breaking Andres Ambühl, who played the last game of his career at his 20th World Championship on Sunday evening and has legendary status. The crowd then chanted "Büeli, Büeli, Büeli".
Ambühl gets emotional
Of course, the 41-year-old was then called to the microphone, although he is anything but happy to be the center of attention. When asked what was going through his mind after the difficult evening, he replied: "I have to make sure I don't get emotional." But Ambühl couldn't hold back the tears after all. How did he spend the evening? "That has changed. When we won silver for the first time in 2013, we celebrated as if we had become world champions. Last year and this year, the disappointment was already extremely big, then after a few beers we were done. We would have been ready for the next step."
Leonardo Genoni, who celebrated four shutouts and was named MVP of the tournament, was also a man in demand. How are his emotions one day after the defeat? "It's difficult to describe them. We were close again, so you can't quickly tick the whole thing off and say: 'I got another trophy'. It's a team sport and we missed out on the gold medal."
Message from Sports Minister Martin Pfister
A message from Sports Minister Martin Pfister was also played during the celebrations. "What you showed on the ice was simply fantastic. Your courageous, creative and composed style of play has captivated us all. This silver medal shines because you can feel how much passion, work and team spirit went into it. I'm convinced it's a strong foundation for everything that's to come. You will get another chance to make your performance golden," said Pfister, among others.
Will the gold coup succeed at home next year? In any case, the Swiss have done a great job of promoting the home World Championships. Martin Baumann, CEO of Swiss Ice Hockey, described the start of advance sales on Monday as "sensational. The aim is to sell around 500,000 tickets and make it a unique experience." The official part of the event was over at 7.12 pm, but the players still took plenty of time for the fans. Soon enough, the pride of another great tournament should prevail.
