WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : It’s a Romanian Holiday for Switzerland : Group A: Swiss celebrate a 4-1 victory, their first Cup triumph in 40 years.
What Hex? What Hagi? What heat?
Wednesday afternoon, Switzerland overcame all obstacles as it blew Romania’s cover and the lid off the Silverdome, scoring three second-half goals en route to a 4-1 victory before 61,428.
The win sent angst-ridden Swiss fans screaming into the streets of Pontiac and Zurich, this time not having to wave their red flags in surrender.
Switzerland, with its back against the Matterhorn in Group A, dominated play after intermission to secure its first World Cup victory since 1954.
That triumph, exactly 40 years ago today, was a 4-1 victory over Italy.
After taking its share of criticism at home in the wake of its 1-1 tie with the United States, Switzerland came out kicking against Romania.
The first half was hard fought, a dead-heat. A 1-1 tie. The second half was all Swiss.
The deciding goal came in the 53rd minute, after Alain Sutter’s corner kick from the right side disappeared into a maze of players in front of the goal.
Television replays revealed the ball then struck the hand of a Swiss player, an infraction, but the play went unnoticed by the referee.
The ball was slapped forward into an open space to the left of goal, allowing striker Stephane Chapuisat to sneak a sliding shot to the right of Romanian goalkeeper, Bogdan Stelea.
What controversy the hand ball might have caused in a close contest proved moot in the 66th minute, when Swiss midfielder Ciriaco Sforza took off on a brilliant, open-field run down the right sideline. He then split two defenders with a pass to himself, and crossed the ball left to a streaking Adrian Knup, who easily converted for a goal to make it 3-1.
For good measure, the Swiss added another gift goal in the 72nd minute. Georges Bregy was credited with a grazing header, though it appeared a Romanian might actually have touched the ball last.
The Swiss used the remainder of the game to take curtain calls.
Sutter, who scored Switzerland’s first goal, asked that he and his flowing golden locks be removed from the game. Wish granted, he limped gallantly out of the stadium on a sore ankle, slapping hands with fans along the way.
“I am happy for the Swiss people,” Switzerland Coach Roy Hodgson, an Englishman, said. “After a 40-year wait, they have a chance to celebrate a Swiss victory in the World Cup.”
Hodgson now fears expectations will soar.
“There’s an old Swedish saying, that no tree grows to heaven,” Hodgson said. “But that’s not true in the sports worlds. In the sporting world, trees are expected to grow to heaven.”
Wednesday, the branches of Tree Switzerland stretched skyward.
With one first-round game remaining, against Columbia, Hodgson believes his team’s chances for advancement are secured.
Although he disagreed with those who criticized his first-game tactic of employing only one striker, the Swiss returned to a two-forward attack with Chapuisat and Knup, with obvious results.
And what of the Romanians? They were tournament darlings after upsetting Colombia in their opener but turned ugly under the dome.
Romania was hit with three yellow cards for hard fouls, and another player, Ion Vladoiu, was ejected with a second-half red card for his cleating of Swiss midfielder Christophe Ohrel.
Later, it was the Romanians who cried foul, complaining about World Cup scheduling and weather conditions. By most accounts, the heat and humidity in no way approached the sauna conditions that existed last Saturday.
Still, Romania wilted like, well, warm romaine.
Gheorghe Hagi, the team’s star playmaker, gave it his all . . . for a half.
He scored his team’s lone goal in the 36th minute but was largely a non-factor thereafter.
“I played well in the first half,” Hagi said. “But in the second half, because of a lack of oxygen, my body could not keep up. My legs were cramping up. Everybody that plays here will face this.”
Switzerland included.
Anghel Iordanescu, the Romanian coach, complained his team was at a jet-lag disadvantage, having played its opener in Los Angeles, while Switzerland played its first two games at the same venue.
Asked if he was going to make lineup changes for Romania’s upcoming game against the United States, Iordanescu worked in a not-so-subtle dig. “We’ll have to turn our watches back three hours, go back to L.A., then take into consideration the health of my players,” he said. “Then I will make my final decision.”
It might well be.
