Semifinal Switzerland - Czech Republic  

Switzerland shot their last bolt on Thursday

With a 5:3 victory for the Czech Republic, the dream for the Swiss to reach the final has desolved. Against the sturdy Czech national team the Swiss struggled and never found their usual rhythm.

When Radim Cepek shot the decisive 5th score into the abandoned Swiss goal, it became completely quiet in the Schluefweg stadium in Kloten. Everything was prepared for a party, nobody wanted to believe that of all teams, the Czech Republic, against whom the Swiss had won 19 out of 20 games in their encouters against the Czechs, would be the hindrance for the Swiss to get to the final. "I don't know what the reason for this was" a very disappointed Urban Karsson says after the game. "The reasons lie on many different levels and factors like too much pressure, underestimation and a shortage of battle luck are the most likely. In any case it's a shame, an amazing chance was wasted and it will take the Swiss a while to digest this."

It was apparent that from the beginning on, the Swiss had problems coping with the role of the favourite. As expected the Czechs concentrated on their defense and let the Swiss dictate the game. The first chance for the Swiss happened in the 4th minute, but Michael Zürcher's shot sailed passed the Czech goal. As a complete surprise the Czechs took over the lead when Peter Kozusnik received the ball behind the goal, took two steps and achieved the 1:0 without resistance (6th). By return the Swiss answered 30 seconds later and Marcel Kaltenbrunner got the ball passed the the Czech goalkeeper Thomas Kafka with a distance shot from center line. This gave the Swiss the necessary safety and only Christoph Riedel's penalty in the 10th minute put a halt to the Swiss upswing. The best chance in the following powerplay, was Radek Sikora?s into the outer net. The same Sikora achieved a 2 minute penalty in the 12th minute for high stick. Birthday child Matthias Hofbauer showed up and scored the tie with a sensational shot from the center line (13th). Still the Swiss game was not as convincing as against the Finns, the ball was played too slowly and repeatedly balls were lost. The Czechs knew how to punish this behaviour and tied the game again in the 17th minute with a direct shot by Sikora. This would not be the last shot in this period. Ales Jakubek received a bench penalty for hard attack and as always in these situations, it was a case for the Hofbauer brothers: Matthias made a semi high pass to his brother in the center and again the Swiss took the lead.

Head coach Karlsson still wasn't happy with the first period and demanded an improvement of his player's performance, especially in controlling the ball he criticized his "men". The expected didn't set in, on the contrary, the Swiss became more careless and let the Czechs advance better into the game. With tough physical effort they cleverly kept their defensive zone strong and were able to get many counterattack chances, Sikora got the best one, but only a post shot (28th). In the meantime the game didn't have the same intensity as in the first period, nevertheless the audience supported the Swiss national team enthusiastically. The tie by the Czechs was becoming more and more apparent and in the 39th minute, by a quick counter over Zalesny, it was achieved.

The wear and tear continued in the last period. The Swiss just couldn't find a remedy against their opponent. The Czechs stood in a clever in defensive manner and stopped the pass combinations of the Swiss. It was noticeable that they intensively had analized their ooponent and knew exactly how they were going to play. The 7?200 spectators noticed that the Swiss national team needed their support and they encouraged their favourites enthusiastically to fight on. It seemed to have worked and after the 50th minute the pressure by the Swiss increased again and Marc Dysli with a distance shot (52nd) and Christoph Hofbauer after a free-hit (53rd) had good chances, but they aimed inaccurately. The best chance for the lead, was offered by Matthias Hofbauer three minutes before finish, he ran aground on the Czech goalkeeper Kafka though. The time was running our for the Swiss and when Zalesny shot his second goal in the 59th minute and took the lead for the Czech Republic again, desperation in the Swiss camp was big. With the courage of despair, with a 6th player, they tried to achieve the impossible. Radim Cepek, who plays for HC Rychenburg in Winterthur, was the hero for the Czechs in this game and conquered the ball and scored the decisive goal 57 seconds before the end of the game to a score of 5:3.

Points of views about today's game

Urban Karlsson (Head Coach Team Switzerland): "First, I'd like to congratulate the Czech Republic. They've played very well today. It's hard to say what went wrong in our team. We have won the last 12 matches (against Norway, Denmark and so on). I was aware of the fact that it is going to be difficult to perform as well as against Finland. In the end, we didn't have enough chances and made mistakes in our defense, of which the Czechs took advantage. We haven't lost the game because of the fourth goal against, but because we didn't contribute enough to the game during all three periods."

Zdenek Skruzny (Head Coach Team Czech Republic): "We have always believed in our win. Before the match, I told my players the Swiss expect us to loose. But I was convinced Switzerland couldn't play two games on the level of yesterday's game against Finland. We had watched the game Switzerland versus Finland on video and therefore knew how to react in particular situations."

Sascha Brendler (Assistant Coach Team Czech Republic and Head Coach of Swiss local club HC Rychenberg Winterthur): "Our team fought hard. We have always believed in ourselves and finally won. The crucial factor was to neutralize both "Höfis". We succeeded in blocking their diagonal passes and direct shots. That's why the Swiss tried to score with less dangerous distance shots from the side. I was confident of victory after the fifth goal. In case the Swiss had scored again, it would have been very tight for us."

5th A-WFC, Semi-Final
Switzerland - Czech Republic 3:5 (3:2, 0:1, 0:2)

Schluefweg, Kloten
SR: Hellberg/Nylén (SWE)
Spectators: 7200

Scorers: 6. Petr Kosusnik (Pavel Kosusnik) 0:1. 7. Kaltenbrunner (C. Hofbauer) 1:1. 13. M. Hofbauer (Bill, Ausschluss Sikora) 2:1. 17. Sikora (Zalesny) 2:2. 18. C. Hofbauer (M. Hofbauer, Ausschluss Jakubek) 3:2. 39. Sikora (Ostransky) 3:3. 59. Dvorak (Zalesny) 3:4. 60. Cepek (ins leere Tor) 3:5.

Penalties:
Switzerland 1 x 2"
Czech Republic 2 x 2"