Switzerland lose 0:2 in Denmark and see red twice. After the game, the Nati stars are angry with the referee and their opponents. Comments on the bitter defeat in Copenhagen.
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- During the match between Denmark and Switzerland, referee Daniel Sieber shows Nico Elvedi a red card.
- The decision causes discussion. Elvedi is pulled to the ground by the striker and then hits him on the foot.
- After the match, players and coaches in the Swiss camp shake their heads in disbelief. "There's no need to discuss the red card," said an annoyed Granit Xhaka.
"That's a scandal. It's a completely wrong decision" - rages Sascha Ruefer in the 52nd minute of the Nations League match between Denmark and Switzerland on Thursday evening. For once, the SRF commentator really speaks from the heart of all Nati fans. What was that?
After a running duel between Nati defender Nico Elvedi and Denmark striker Kasper Dolberg, the Dane pulls the Swiss player to the ground just outside Gregor Kobel's penalty area. A forward foul. However, referee Daniel Siebert apparently saw the situation differently. The German decides on a penalty first and is wrong anyway. After a hair-raising VAR consultation, Siebert then changes his mind. Although he reversed the penalty, he awarded a free kick to Denmark and sent off Elvedi for an emergency brake.
Xhaka: "I don't understand how he shows the red card here"
After the match, players and coaches in the Swiss camp shake their heads in disbelief. "There's no need to discuss the red card," said an annoyed Granit Xhaka after the match (see video above). "That's a huge scandal for me. The fact that you go out and only look at part of the situation and not the whole action is something I've never seen before."
Coach Murat Yakin is also angry. "Nico has a head start, is pulled back or pinned and then falls over. I don't understand how the referee interprets the action like that and shows the red card here," said Yakin in an interview on SRF. "That turned the whole game, we lost control after that." Referee Siebert came into the Nati dressing room after the final whistle and explained his red card against Elvedi to the coach and players.
Chief defender Manuel Akanji also had clear words: "Dolberg trapped Nico's arm, causing him to fall over and land on Dolberg's heels. There was no intention to foul the player. I think it's blatant that the referee looks at the situation in the video and still shows the red card."
"What the Danes showed has nothing to do with respect"
The game is no longer the same after the red card against Elvedi. The Swiss are on the ropes in the final phase, the Danes are desperate to take advantage of their numerical superiority. Maybe that's why they don't play the ball out in the 81st minute, even though Breel Embolo is lying on the ground because opponent Vestergaard is standing on his hand during a tackle.
Gesticulating wildly, Granit Xhaka repeatedly calls on the Danes to play fair and put the ball out of play. They do not do so and instead score the decisive 1:0 on the counter-attack.
Xhaka's collar bursts. While the Danes are still celebrating the goal, a row breaks out. The 31-year-old confronts Denmark captain Hojbjerg and is shown a yellow card. A few minutes later, he then completely loses his head, tackles Hojbjerg once again by brushing him off impetuously, and for this, Siebert names him the second Swiss player to be sent to the showers early.
But even the cold water doesn't seem to have calmed the hot-blooded Swiss. You can still hear the captain's anger long after the game. "The word 'respect' is very important in football. Unfortunately, what Denmark's players did today has nothing to do with respect," Xhaka clearly stated: "We were exemplary in the first half. One of them was lying there and we kicked the ball out. They don't do that in the second half, so we get the 1:0, even though we were already a man down. It's a shame that we still have to talk about respect in 2024."
"You always talk about fair play in games like this, but ..."
Yakin was also annoyed by the opponents' behavior after the game. "Practically every one of our players asked the Danes to play the ball out. Unfortunately, that wasn't fair play on their part," said the national team coach, who immediately came to his captain's defense. "It's understandable that Granit is very upset afterwards."
Goalie Kobel is also angry: "When we conceded the first goal, we were already a man down on the pitch and another was still injured on the ground, so suddenly we were two men short. That's why everyone was relatively upset." Although the Danes had not broken the rules, Kobel explains, he knows: "It's actually a gentleman's agreement not to play on in such a case."
Akanji sees it the same way: "You always talk about fair play in games like this, but the Danes didn't think about playing the ball out. The frustration is naturally huge when you've fought for so long and still lose in the end."
Numerous Nati fans are also annoyed with referee Siebert and the Danes after the Denmark game. You can find the reactions from the net here.
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