If Scotland and Hungary had believed they were in a three-horse race to finish second behind Germany in Group A, they were given a sobering reality check within the first 24 hours of Euro 2024.
Following the hosts’ 5-1 victory over Steve Clarke’s side on Friday night, Hungary were dealt a humbling of their own with a 3-1 defeat to Switzerland in Cologne.
This was the Hungary tipped by many as dark horses, but those Liverpool fans tuning in to see Dominik Szoboszlai leading by example will have been disappointed for the first hour.
Euro 2024 scores
- Hungary 1-2 Switzerland
- Spain vs Croatia (5pm KO)
- Italy vs Albania (8pm KO)
Instead the opening goal on Saturday came from an unexpected source in Kwadwo Duah, a man who had played just 45 minutes of international football before kick-off.
Duah’s strike was initially ruled out, a decision rightly corrected by the semi-automated offside system in place at this summer’s tournament.
Michel Aebischer’s strike from outside the area was spectacular for the second – Peter Gulacsi arguably ought to have done better for both – though Hungary were able to turn the tide when Szoboszlai teed up Barnabas Varga’s header from just yards out to pull one back.
However, Hungary did not take advantage as Embolo capitalised on a defensive howler from Willi Orban to add a third in injury time – a remarkable moment for a player who has spent so long on the sidelines after a torn cruciate ligament and who only narrowly made his way into the squad, his knee strapping falling off as he broke through on goal.
A victory made in Bologna
By Daniel Storey, i‘s chief football writer in Cologne
Complete dominance became wrought nerves, but Switzerland held on. At half-time they gathered in Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion with the wide eyes of unexpected bliss, an often goal-shy team that had hit upon a purple patch at the right time. By full-time, they had aged months but will readily accept the lost time. What price opening your major tournament with a win?
Relief came late from the man who was once Switzerland’s Prince Regent and may still be their king again if everything goes right. Embolo’s injury has been the obsession of his nation, first an ACL tear and then muscle strain. He’s fit enough to be a substitute and he’s fit enough to score stoppage-time goals. Nothing else matters for now.
We are used to watching major tournaments to discover players with which we are unfamiliar, but how about entire teams?
Any follower of Italian football has been happy to chew your ear about the vibrancy of Thiago Motta’s Bologna, who won’t only play European football for the first time this century next season but will play in the European Cup proper for the first time ever.
This week brought disappointing news for the bolognesi: Motta’s announcement had already been confirmed but he will lead Juventus next season. That is the fate of the overachiever in elite football – while you are still being congratulated, the bigger boys (or in this case Old Lady) are plotting how to take you down.
This summer allows us to give Bologna their dues in Germany. They have provided nine players to Euro 2024 (it would have been 10 but for Lewis Ferguson’s injury withdrawal), level with Juventus and Liverpool and more than Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund. Motta created a team of young, hungry, cosmopolitan footballers and knitted them into something exceptional.
In Cologne on Saturday, their fingerprints covered Switzerland’s win. On the right of the forward line, Dan Ndoye drifted into space and then drove directly and one-paced Hungarian defenders to create outright panic. Ndoye was signed from FC Basel last summer for a fee of around £7m and must surely be worth at least double now.
Switzerland’s midfield is built around Granit Xhaka, rock by forename and nature. Xhaka’s redemption arc has completed its journey at club level, but it was never needed in a Swiss shirt. His is a simple role that he does majestically, echoes of that famous Xavi quote: take the ball, pass the ball. There’s none of the unhinged mania of his Arsenal tackling to be seen.
The direct beneficiary was Michel Aebischer, nominally a left wing-back but who spent most of the game drifting infield to outnumber Hungary in midfield and thus enjoy time and space on the ball. Aebischer is another Bologna find, signed from Young Boys in 2022 for less than £3m. Xhaka’s other partner in central midfield? Remo Freuler, of Bologna.
Aebischer was the game’s best player, not only because he was so emphatically multifunctional but because he starred in the decisive moments. For all the criticism of Hungary, who in the first half relied upon the Scotland playbook of simultaneously sitting deep and leaving huge spaces in front and behind of their defence, it was Aebischer who exploited it.
Switzerland’s first goal came from an Aebischer through ball, played on the move and between two flat-footed defenders.
It found Duah, surely one of the individual stories of this competition. Born in London, Duah was a world away from international football until he started scoring goals at the age of 24. Now at Ludogorets in Bulgaria, he has made his international debut, scored his first goal and now scored at a major tournament in the space of a fortnight.
Aebischer’s party piece came just before half-time. With Hungarians again sitting too deep and thus allowing for difficult decisions to be made pressure-free, Aebischer set himself on his right foot and curled the ball serenely past Gulasci. The celebration gave it away – Aebischer scored once all season in Serie A and his mazy dash towards the bench showed a man in near-total shock.
Hungary have lost their “dark horse” tag for good; such is the pressure of coping with unforeseen expectations.
Perhaps Switzerland will take it from them – they have the support, the league title-winning goalkeeper central defender and central midfielder and, now, the goals. They also have a triumvirate of players from one of Europe’s great overachieving clubs of last season. These are special ingredients indeed.