Switzerland beats Estonia 0-3 in Euro 2016 qualifier
Estonian national football team took on Switzerland in its fifth Euro 2016 qualifier match that ended the first round of games in Group E. The match, played in front of a full house in Luzerne, ended with a 0-3 victory of the hosts.
Seventeen minutes into the game, Schär put Switzerland ahead 0-1. Ten minutes later, Xhaka strenghtened the lead to 0-2.
The third time Switzerland sent the ball to the net was, fortunately for Estonia, ruled an offside, but only a few minutes later, Seferovic still managed to score another goal, taking Switzerlands tally up to three.
It's safe to say that all hope of Estonia making it to the final tournament for the first time is now gone.
Estonia, who started the tournament with a win over Slovenia in Tallinn's A. Le Coq Arena back in September and then dropped the ball, losing 0-1 to both Lithuania and England, and more disappointingly, drawing 0-0 with San Marino, is currently fifth in the group standings. England has taken a firm lead, having won all of its five games so far. Follow Slovenia and Switzerland, both with three wins and two losses, and Lithuania, with two wins, three losses.
Estonia and Switzerland had only gone head-to-head twice before, back in 1992 and 1993, when Estonia took humiliating 6-0 and 4-0 beatings respectively.
Despite Estonia's head coach Magnus Pehrsson's pre-match confidence, saying that his team was fitter than even before, Estonia fared not much better this time around.
Following the game, Pehrsson told ERR the first 15 minutes of the game were the hardest. Once the team got used to the tempo it got a bit better and he is happy with that aspect. "To be able to beat Switzerland you have to play a perfect game. We didn't, we made mistakes early on," he said, adding that the most important thing now is to continue to develop the team further.
Estonia's captain Ragnar Klavan, who played his 100th game for the national team tonight, said that although the first two goals were largely their own fault and could have been avoided, the whole team fought until the end.
Konstantin Vassiljev said the result reflects the difference in the two teams's quality. "We did all we could. Sure, attack was lacking but we now must analyse the game and see what could be improved." He hoped the friendly against Iceland on Tuesday will be better, although Iceland is not an easy opponent either, having recently beaten none other than the Netherlands.
Swiss defender Johan Djourou told ERR his team knew Estonia was going to defend hard, so they stuck to their plan and got the job done. The Swiss team remains confident for the future.
Other Group E games played on Friday night ended with England beating Lithuania 4-0, and Slovenia destroying San Marino 6-0.
Editor: M. Oll