Not only in the red-white-red camp, but also by many experts, Switzerland is considered the favorite for gold. And the World Cup hosts underlined this against Austria, really establishing themselves with the target in the attacking third.
After just 13:21 minutes, the Swiss led 4-0 and ultimately won 9-0. Austria now has a two-day break before they face Germany on Saturday, 8:20 p.m. live on ORF 1.
Head coach Roger Bader: “It was a game against a totally superior opponent who is an absolute favorite for the World Cup title. They have been runner-up in the world championships twice in recent years, so they are strong. Plus 10,000 people who are pushing them forward. They play fantastic ice hockey, that has to be said. We have nothing to counter this speed, this skill level and this intensity. You have to acknowledge that without envy. We were also a bit tired, and that was also the case We already felt the fourth game in five days. We also left a few players out to protect them. I don’t know whether it was a 9-0 game with 30:20 shots on goal, but in any case the Swiss are much better and an absolute favorite for the title.
Captain Peter Schneider: “We made a few positional mistakes at the beginning, which the Swiss simply exploited coldly. We completely let David Kickert down and the smallest mistake, which might not be so bad against other teams, is immediately punished here. We knew that Switzerland was a favorite for the title. The two days’ break are very important now. It’s been a strenuous four games so far. Now it’s time to recover, recover, recover and then we’ll focus and prepare for Germany. No matter what, you always have to play games like this quickly Nothing happened now, but we have to learn from it and do better in the next game.”
eishockey.at , Image: ÖEHV-Manfred Szieber
