FOOTBALL – Switzerland were confident of having their best-ever World Cup run, but their journey became a whole lot more complex after an unfathomable bout of misfiring opened the door for unheralded Qatar to snatch a point in their Group B opener.
The Swiss swagger was abundant in the blazing sunshine on Saturday, as a side playing in their sixth successive World Cup delivered a California crowd-pleaser by laying siege to the Qatar goal for almost the entire match, with a whopping 26 attempts.
They went ahead early through a Breel Embolo penalty but couldn’t build on that, paying dearly for a stoppage-time defensive lapse that allowed Qatar to level, with Boualem Khoukhi’s header going in off defender Miro Muheim, sparking jubilant scenes and leaving the Swiss shell-shocked.
While the match was historic for Qatar, who won their first-ever World Cup point, it was yet another one for the Swiss to forget in a tournament in which they’re seemingly cursed after round-of-16 exits in five of their last six appearances.
No one will fault the charismatic Swiss coach Murat Yakin for his aggressive, all-out gameplan, but it was a match Switzerland should have won with ease.