The Swiss floorball team ends the disappointing World Championships in Malmö with a victory. They won the match for 5th place against Slovakia 6:3.
15.12.2024, 14:31
15.12.2024, 14:35
SDA
The Swiss struggled for 54 minutes in the last game, which was still about participation in the World Games next February in Chengdu, China. Goalkeeper Yanick Flury prevented the 0:2 deficit with a deflected penalty, and the 2:1 lead turned into a deficit once again. Only Jan Zaugg's second goal to make it 4:3 in the 55th minute brought the final victory. The attacking player from Köniz Bern, who was also involved in the subsequent 5:3 scored by the second double-goal scorer Marco Louis, had already made it 3:3 shortly after the end of the middle third.
With the revenge against Norway for the 4:4 in the group phase and the victory against Slovakia, the national team at least limited the damage at the end of a disappointing tournament. After the historic quarter-final defeat to Latvia, the 5th place finish is the worst result for the Swiss men at a World Championship since 1996. In terms of ranking, however, it is not a total collapse after the two 4th places in 2021 and 2022.
Due to a major personnel upheaval, it was clear in advance that expectations could not be too high. Twelve players were playing in their first World Championships, while the entire staff led by coach Johan Schönbeck were on the Swiss sidelines for the first time at the championships.
However, the gulf between the nominal top four (Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland) and the rest should still exist on paper even under these conditions, albeit no longer as pronounced. Switzerland missed out on the semi-finals for the first time since the first World Championship 28 years ago. Even before the 4:3 defeat against Latvia, the first ever defeat against the Baltic nation, it had become clear in the last group game against Norway that the rejuvenated national team struggles against supposedly inferior, defensive teams.
