Finland crush Swiss in Zurich
Finland have pummelled the Swiss 4-0 in Zurich in the second of their World Cup warm-up matches.
The Swiss team went into the game with high spirits but failed to build on Friday’s 2-1 win against the Finnish side in Geneva.
In front of a 4,300 strong home crowd the Swiss national side got off to a poor start and the Finns took full advantage and wiped the floor with them in the first period.
Decisive first period
The first goal came just three minutes into the match when Vahalahti scored. Team mate Pirjetä built on the Finns’ early success with another goal seven minutes later.
Seven seemed to be the magic number for the Finnish side, who scored their third goal in the 17th minute, when Somervuori flicked the puck into the back of the net past Swiss keeper Martin Gerber.
The Swiss managed to find some sort of form in the second period with neither side scoring.
But the Finns asserted their domination in the third period with a goal from Rintanen in the 44th minute, making them the out-and-out winners.
It was the 18th time Finland have won against Switzerland in 20 games.
After the match the Swiss coach, Ralph Krueger, said he was surprised with the comeback Finland had made following Friday’s defeat.
“We expected them to fight back,” he said, “but we were surprised by the intensity of their reaction.”
“For us, the first period was a catastrophe, but we improved during the rest of the match,” Krueger told reporters. “Our team, which is made up of young and inexperienced players is not used to having to come together. We have a lot to learn from our friendly matches.”
World Cup training
The match, which was the second of four friendly matches, marks the start of serious training for the world championships, which get underway in Sweden at the end of the month.
Before the international showdown starts on April 26, Switzerland will go head-to-head with the Slovakian national side in two more friendlies.
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