Hanspeter Latour enjoys cult status in Swiss football. In a home game, the 77-year-old recalls an unforgettable outburst of anger on the FC Thun touchline.
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- In the football talk Heimspiel, cult coach Hanspeter Latour recalls a legendary scene from his time as Thun coach.
- Latour was wired up for a match against Servette, but he quickly forgot about it - and offered TV viewers some interesting insights.
- After a foul whistle from Urs Meier, Latour let his anger run free. Looking back, however, the 77-year-old does not want to speak of a freak-out: "I said 'Mr. Meier' in a decent way. You can't do it any more decently than that."
The match between FC Thun and Servette is scheduled for 3 November 2002 in the Bernese Oberland. For the Thun team, the home game was a landmark match. "That was a match where everything was at stake," recalls the then Thun coach Hanspeter Latour in the football talk Heimspiel. "We knew that if we beat Servette, we would definitely be in the final round."
Latour was correspondingly focused on the touchline that day. And quickly forgets that he is wired up during the game. Much to the delight of the TV viewers, who for once can listen to the Thun coach's instructions, cheers and goal celebrations.
"That's ä Gränni"
After a duel between Thun's Armand Deumi and Servette's Goran Obradovic, referee Urs Meier whistles for a foul on the Thun player - and gets Latour's goat. "The other way! That's a gränni! That's not normal, Mr. Meier! He grins every time! You can have a look in the f... That's terrible, that one!" blurts out the Thun coach.
The emotional outburst immediately made Latour a cult figure and is still a popular anecdote in Swiss football over 20 years later. Looking back, Latour himself reveals in the football talk show Heimspiel: "Obradovic was a very good player, but he was always looking for the foul. Deumi tackled him aggressively - and I wanted to tone it down a bit."
However, he does not want to describe his action as a freak-out. "That's not true now. I said 'Mr. Meier' in a decent way. You can't do it any more decently than that," said Latour, who admitted: "What I can be accused of as a coach, I have to stand by: You shouldn't care about the opposing players. But that was in the emotions."
"Pull the ball away again"
Emotions finally ran high again 10 minutes before the final whistle. Gilberlandio "Gil" Hemmi, the current FC Aarau groundsman, scores the 1:0 winner for Thun, takes off his shirt as he celebrates the goal - and then has great difficulty putting it back on.
The reaction of the wired Latour follows promptly: "Put his shirt back on if he can't do it! Take off the soles again! Are you crazy? He's not quite wet and he's blowing there!"
Looking back, however, even Latour can laugh about Hemmi's shirt mishap - and sends a message to his former protégé via blue Sport: "You had a bit of a problem with the shirt, but in hindsight it wasn't half as bad!"
