More holes than Swiss cheese
Belgium at a loss to explain collapse against Switzerland
LUCERNE (Switzerland): Belgium were at a loss to explain their astonishing collapse against Switzerland, when they threw away a two-goal lead, conceded five goals in an hour and missed out on the final four of the Nations League.
Some players felt the World Cup semi-finalists might have got carried away after they went two goals ahead after only 17 minutes.
Certainly there was a point shortly after their second goal when Belgium were passing the ball around in midfield to cheers from their fans where they seemed to be tempting fate.
“Arrogance? No, we were surprised on counter-attacks, we forgot to defend well,” coach Roberto Martinez said after the 5-2 defeat.
The Swiss, who lost 2-1 in Brussels, qualified for the semi-finals on their head-to-head record after both teams finished with nine points in Group A2.
“It’s very difficult to give an explanation. We started well, then at a certain point, Switzerland had nothing to lose,” added Martinez after losing only his second competitive match since taking charge following Euro 2016.
“We gave them opportunities to come back in the game. We must come out stronger, try to understand what we have done wrong. It is all the more painful that we had started very well.”
Midfielder Thomas Meunier said Belgium had ”everything in our own hands” after their flying start.
“It was a perfect game for us. We could have scored even more,” he said.
“I think we just thought we reached the final four already. Tonight was the worst match with the Red Devils in my career.”
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois agreed that the team thought they were home and dry.
“I think after our 2-0 lead the feeling went into our team, that this cannot go wrong,” he said. ”But this is a high-level competitive match and hopefully not reaching the final four will teach us a lesson for the future.”
Midfielder Thorgan Hazard, scorer of both Belgian goals, described the game as bizarre.
“Maybe our start was just too good, we became too self-assured about our task,” he said, echoing his team mates’ comments.
“With a 2-0 lead we should never have given it away any more. We have to learn from our mistakes as today we learned a very important lesson.”
After a thrilling match that continued a trend of goal-filled encounters in the inaugural edition of the Nations League, Switzerland will play at the finals in June next year, alongside European champions Portugal and England, with the final spot going to either France or Holland.
Thorgan Hazard set the tone for the game in only the second minute as dreadful defending by Swiss centreback Nico Elvedi allowed him to slot home.
The 25-year-old winger continued his excellent recent form with a magnificent individual strike in the 17th minute, carrying the ball forwards at pace before hammering a low drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The Borussia Moenchengladbach man has now scored 12 goals for club and country this season.
That left the hosts with a mountain to climb, but Rodriguez got them on the scoresheet in the 26th minute from the spot after Nacer Chadli fouled Kevin Mbabu.
Liverpool forward Xerdan Shaqiri was starting to have a big- ger impact on the game and he headed the ball across goal for Haris Seferovic to tap in his first just after the half-hour mark to keep the game alive.
Benfica striker Seferovic sent the crowd in Lucerne into raptures with a wonderful curling finish shortly before half-time as a famous fightback beckoned.
Switzerland continued to press at the start of the second period, with Shaqiri bending a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.
Shaqiri, who has been revitalised since joining Liverpool from Stoke in the close season, was the architect of the all-important fourth goal, creating space for a whipped cross which only needed a glancing touch from Elvedi.
Belgium still only needed one goal to snatch top spot in the group, but Seferovic put that beyond reach of the away side by twisting to head home in the 84th minute.
There was still time for Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer to be forced into saves by Eden Hazard and Belgian substitute Michy Batshuayi, but the hosts held on and almost scored a sixth when Denis Zakaria was denied at pointblank range by Courtois. — Agencies