Five minutes too long for Switzerland

As against Croatia on Thursday, Switzerland took the lead against Poland. But she once again lacked lucidity in the final against the semi-finalists of the last Euro (70-80).

Determined to finish at the top of the group, Poland had left nothing to chance for this game. Coach Igor Milicic had thus requisitioned Mateusz Ponitka, one of the playmakers of Panathinaikos, current 16th in the Euroleague. The 29-year-old distributor has often put the Swiss defense in difficulty, achieving 14 assists.

As in the first leg, the Swiss dominated the first half (42-35), thanks in particular to the address of Kilian Martin (10 points in the first quarter) and Arnaud Cotture, a real metronome in the interior game. . Problem, the men of Ilias Papatheodorou were immediately taken cold, from the resumption (45-45 in the 24th), before finding a little collective game (55-48 in the 27th). The ability of the Helvetians to spin the ball on the half-court was the tipping point of this meeting which attracted 1,789 spectators to Fribourg. When Jonathan Kazadi and his teammates were able to bring the ball to life, they managed to put the Polish defense in great difficulty. When they have accumulated the dribbles on the spot, they will have found themselves having to force many shots from distance.

Money-time fatal

At +7 in the 27th, the Swiss will have completely missed their end of the quarter (3-10), allowing the visitors to come back up (58-58), then to pass in front of the 32nd (64-61). Only two lengths away at the start of money-time (66-68 in the 35th minute), the Swiss then exploded (0-12), cracking mentally and physically.

Our national team will still have a chance to qualify for Euro 2025 by playing four matches between July 19 and August 5 against two opponents yet to be named. Only the first will continue on its way.

/ATS