Lars Villiger's penalty miss is the talk of the weekend. In blue Sport, the FCL striker explains why he scored the penalty with his left foot and looks ahead to the upcoming European Championship qualifying final with the U21 national team.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Lars Villiger's missed penalty last weekend caused a lot of discussion.
- Did the Lucerne striker really shoot with his weak foot? Villiger clarifies the situation for blue Sport: "I'm ambidextrous."
- Villiger is at the top of the table with FCL. But now the focus is on the crucial European Championship qualifiers with the U21 national team. "We can and must win both games," he says.
"Villiger is in the running for the most embarrassing penalty of the season", headlines blue Sport am Sonntag. The Lucerne youngster fails miserably with his attempt against Lausanne (2:2). He doesn't even seem to hit the ball properly, making it easy pickings for Lausanne goalkeeper Karlo Letica.
It can happen. But the curious thing is that Villiger shot left-footed. On "Transfermarkt" and also on the league website, it says that the 21-year-old is right-footed. Villiger has also scored two of his four goals this season with his right foot, the other two with his head.
Why did the striker shoot with his left foot against Lausanne? "Because all my life I've always scored penalties with my left foot, never my right," Villiger explains to blue Sport.
He explains: "I'm ambidextrous. A lot of people want to talk me into having my right foot as my strong one. But I've never defined that for myself. I can play equally well with both feet." So will he shoot his next penalty with his left foot again? "Yes, definitely," is Villiger's clear answer.
Leading the table - also thanks to Villiger
But the young attacker seems to have put the issue behind him. Especially as things are going extremely well for him and his FCL. After nine games, Lucerne are top of the Super League table, and Villiger has played a big part in their success with his four goals and two assists. He is the second-best scorer in the league.
FC Luzern is the club in the Super League that relies by far the most on its own youth. The great trust in the young guns seems to be the secret of success in Central Switzerland.
"It's a good interplay between the youngsters, the veterans and the new arrivals. Stefan Knezevic, for example, has a lot of experience, Andrejs Ciganiks has already played many international matches (for Latvia, editor's note)," explains Villiger. "We lacked this component somewhat last year. Now everything is coming together quite well, we're in a good flow and we want to continue like this."
Can the U21 national team qualify for the European Championship?
However, Villiger's focus is not currently on Lucerne's title dreams, but on the upcoming European Championship qualifiers with the U21 team. Switzerland are in first place in their group, but will face second-placed Finland (Friday) and third-placed Romania (Tuesday) in their last two games and are only one point ahead of their two opponents.
"We have it in our own hands. We know what qualities we have in the team and that we are a good team. We can go into these two games with this attitude," says Villiger, who has scored two goals in the qualifiers so far. "We can and must win these two games, we're the favorites. They have to chase us, not us them."
The potentially decisive match against Finland will take place in Lucerne's Swissporarena, the home ground of Villiger and his U21 national team colleagues Pascal Loretz, Severin Ottiger and Luca Jaquez. Villiger: "It's certainly an advantage that we can play at home. In Lucerne, where some of us also play or have played for the club. We're expecting a lot of fans and a good atmosphere."