Ten Nations Tournament

[RobtheAggie]

The U-21 Swiss National Team is involved in this Tournament starting Wednesday in Doha, Qutar. It should be a good one.
15 Jan Switzerland - Germany
17 jan Japan - Switzerland
19 jan Switzerland - Thailand
21 jan Switzerland - Qatar
24 jan 3rd place game and final

The Other teams involved are Norway, China, Egypt, Czech Republic and Brasil.
This should be a good test of depth with as many games as will be played in a short time.

[RobtheAggie]

According the the Website www.toyatocup2003.com, the Swiss tied Germany 1-1 and lost 2-3. I am not sure which to believe. Anyone know?

[RobtheAggie]

Here is the article of the game from www.Gulf-times.com

"Earlier, lowly Switzerland made mighty Germany struggle on every front before the latter walked away with a 3-2 win. They kept the pressure on the Germans and ensured that they capitalised on whatever came their way.

Germany took the lead in the fourth minute when Piotr Trochowski's left-footer stormed into the net but the Swiss did not have to wait long to equalise.

Three minutes later, Marco Streller skirted German defenders Benjamin Wingerter and Sofian Chahed to restore parity. Then on, the Swiss made some beautiful moves and continuously mounted attacks on the German citadel but without success.

Germany earned a freekick on top of the box in the 28th minute. Christian Schulz's kick rebounded from the bar but an alert Sebastian Radtke judged the ball well and pushed it in to make it 2-1. German custodian Daniel Hass' mistake in the 43rd minute proved costly as Switzerland restored parity. Looking at the surging Swiss forwards, Wingerter gave a back pass to Haas but before a diving Haas could collect, Swiss Gygax hit the ball which rebounded and landed in front of Streller. Streller's left-footer hit the side bar before it sailed into the net. Both the teams were levelled 2-2 at the breather.

The Germans had to wait till the 80th minute to score the match-winner. Matthias Lenmann supplied the ball to Mike Hanke, who dodged two Swiss defenders and hit the ball from the top of the box only to see the ball find the net past a diving Swiss goalkeeper Roland Schwegler."

Since when has the U-21 team for Switzerland been considered lowly?

[RobtheAggie]

Switzerland falls to Japan 2-1. It would take a miracle for them to qualify for the next round. The Swiss side went down to 0-1 in the 20th minute. Savic had a penalty in the 28th minute that he missed for Switzerland. Japan scored again in the 50th minute and Savic scored in teh 53rd. Japan had their U-23/Olympic team. The Swiss coach, Bernard Challandes had 10 new players in this game. I think that one can say this tournament is being used for experience and game for the young team. Germany(U-20 team) has 9 points after three games, Japan has 6 after two. Switzerland would have to crush both Thailand, which is possible, and Quatar which wont happen. But this is a good learning experience for the young team. A 2-2 showing would be good.

[RobtheAggie]

Here is the report from www.gulf-times.com:

"SWITZERLAND committed spotkick suicide yesterday after striker Nenad Savic missed a penalty thus paving the way for a 1-2 loss to Japan in their Group A match in the second International Friendly Under-23 Football Tournament at the Al-Ittehad Stadium.

The battle between the strong and sturdy Swiss players and the skilful Japanese began at a slow pace with both sides searching for opportunities. None of the teams had a clear chance till the 25th minute when Japan drew first blood.

Maeda Ryoichi supplied a long ball from the right to Nishino Yasumasa, who took it on the chest. He lost his balance a little but immediately recovered to dodge the Swiss defender and put the ball past Swiss goalkeeper Marco Wolfli.

In the counter attack, Roger Wagner was obstructed inside the Japanese box by Sugimoto Midviharu, resulting in Chinese referee Junjie Huang signalling to the spot in favour of Switzerland. Savic failed to clear Japanese custodian Veno Hideaki and Japan went into half-time with a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes into the restart, Chishima Toru made it 2-0 for Japan. Tokunaga Yuhei supplied the ball from the right flank to Nishino Yasumasa inside the box. Yasumasa, who was on the right corner of the post, just tapped the ball with his heel towards Toru in the centre, who made no mistake in doubling their advantage.

Meanwhile, Savic’s moment of reckoning came in the 54th minute. Switzerland was awarded a freekick just outside the Japanese area. Savic made no mistake this time as his left-foot curler stormed into the right corner of the net.

“He is a very tough player. He has a strong left-foot and he showed by converting the freekick that he had forgotten the missed penalty within no time,” Bernaud said of Savic.

Swiss coach Challandes Bernaud also rued his team’s poor show. “We could have got away with a 2-2 draw as there were many chances to equalise. But we missed a penalty and a few goal-scoring opportunities,” he said.

The Swiss were on the offensive in the second half and they did create some good moves but their shots either were cleared by the Japanese defenders or were off the mark.

“It was a tough game and I am satisfied with the result,” said Japanese manager Yamamoto Masakuni. “We would like to concentrate on our next games now against Germany and Qatar,” he added.

He, however, sidelined the comment that the Japanese play one half better but falter in the second saying, “Mine is a young team and we are trying new combinations. We scored goals in both the halves so this opinion does not stand.”

I find it interesting that the same team can go from "Lowly" to "strong and sturdy" in two days.

[RobtheAggie]

Switzerland Wins!!!
Finally Switzerland put together a complete game with a 3-1 victory over the host team Qutar. Marco Streller scored the hat-trick. It looks like Switzerland should finish the competition with 6 points, they should beat Thailand, and Qutar should loose to Japan, who destroyed Germany 3-0. Remember that Japan has their Olympic team so watch out for them in the Olympic Games. Switzerland should end up third on goal differiential. Not too bad, but a great learning experience for the youth.

[RobtheAggie]

Here is the newpaper report of the match:

"TWO defence errors in the space of four minutes saw Switzerland demolish Qatar’s hopes of finishing in the prize list of the Toyota Cup International Friendly Under-23 Football Tournament at the Al-Ittehad Stadium yesterday.

Marco Streller smashed the tournament’s first hat-trick as 10-man Switzerland won 3-1. Qatar lost two of its three matches and will take on Japan in the last league match of Group A tomorrow.

Qatar’s woes started as early as in the seventh minute when Streller netted his first goal. He got the ball on the left side of the Qatar box and before the Qatari defenders could react, he surged ahead and unleashed a left-footer into the right corner.

Four minutes later, a lightning Swiss move again caught the Qatari defence offguard. Swiss captain Diego Benaglio was obstructed near the centreline and got a freekick.

Daniel Gygax seized the chance immediately and gave it straight to Streller at the edge of the Qatar box. The Swiss striker’s left-footer from the left flank once again stormed into the net as Qatar custodian Basel Samieh Zidan watched in utter dismay.

The Swiss were reduced to 10 men in the 19th minute when Gygax was red-carded for dangerously obstructing Bilal Abdulrehman.

The Qataris, however, failed to take the advantage of the Swiss’ truncated strength. They made a few good moves but proved to be way off the mark.

Jassem Rashid Bonanian scored Qatar’s only goal in the 58th minute. On a freekick from Bilal Abdulrehman, Bonanian headed the ball straight into the net. In the very next minute, Streller completed his hat-trick. Switzerland were awarded a penalty when Streller was obstructed inside the Qatar box by Shaheen Ali Mahmood. Streller made no mistake to make it 3-1. The Swiss goalkeeper Marco Wolfli did some beautiful glove-work throughout the match and thwarted many Qatar raids.

Qatar coach Alex Dupont blamed it on the weak defence. “Our defence was very weak and the players could not handle the pressure after conceding two goals in 10 minutes,” he said.

Swiss coach Bernard Challendes praised Streller saying, “He is a very good player but we never thought that he will play so well.”


Nice victory!

[RobtheAggie]

Switzerland beat Thailand 4-0 in the last game of the tournament. Here is the translation of a match report.

"The Swiss u21 team finished the 10 nations tournamnet in Qatar with a large victory 4-0 over Thailand. But their third place finish out of five means they are eliminated.

The two victories over Qatar (3-1) and Thailand (4-0) were insufficient to qualify for third place or Championship game. The elimination is mabye the only cause for concern for the coach Bernard Challandes. «If we could have prepared a little longer before the Germany match as a team (2-3), We could have qualified». In its last match against the "Red Light", Switzerland played two destinct half's. The first half time was on to forget. It was only after a forceful halftime speech and the insertion of the midfielder from Grasshopper Club, Yassin Mikari that the Swiss had a little bit of life in their game. Mikari was brilliant on the left flank and assisted on the first three Swiss goals scored by Nenad Savic (63rd) and by the Young Boys prodigy, Johann Vonlanthen (73rd/77th). Three minutes before the final whistle, Patrick Baumann (Thun) scored on a centering pass from Kim Jaggy. Challandes showed a strong satisfaction from the 10 day stay in the Middle East. «We had the oppourtunity to have perfect training conditions at our hotel. Each player played a minimum of two matches and I think that the players in returning to their club will be in excellent physical shape." (si)


Stangings::
1. Japan 3/9.
2. Germany 4/9.
3. Switzerland 4/6.
4. Qatar 3/3.
5. Thailand 4/0.
Japan and Qatar play today.

It sounds like this was a good tournamnet for those that played. Hopefully the players will keep progressing and help their club teams and in the future the national team.

[SwissGCZ]

Sounds like this tournament was a good experience for some of the younger players. I don't think the results are that important at this point...(altough it would've been nice to beat Germany and Japan as well)