Footballers fight back
The Swiss football team have bounced back from Tuesday's defeat against Cyprus by beating Hungary 2-1.
Switzerland got off to a slow start but got their act together early in the second half.
With 52 minutes played Ludovic Magnin grabbed his first ever international goal before team-mate Hakan Yakin made it 2-0 just four minutes later.
The Hungarian team were left reeling and struggled to fight back during the rest of the match. But they took full advantage of a mistake by keeper Pascal Zuberbühler in the 82nd minute to score their only goal.
Ferencvaros Budapest’s Gyepes headed the ball past Zuberbühler, who had replaced newcomer Fabrice Borer shortly after half-time.
“This win will be good for the team’s self-confidence, but it’s also pleased me personally,” said Swiss coach Köbi Kuhn. “The team reacted well to the defeat against Cyprus and we have come another step forward in our development together.”
Servette players absent
Playing in front of just 100 supporters, the Swiss team were without Servette Geneva players Sebastien Fournier, Alex Frei and Johan Lonfat, who were all excused from international duty due to their club’s upcoming UEFA Cup tie with Valencia.
Wednesday’s result showed a marked improvement by the Swiss team who narrowly lost 4-2 on penalties to Cyprus on Tuesday.
The win against Hungary saw the Swiss finish third in the standings of the four-nation Cyprus tournament.
The Czech Republic finished as overall winners, after beating their Cypriot hosts 4-3 in Wednesday’s final.
swissinfo with agencies
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