Just a city boy
Born and raised in south Detroit...
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues...
Recently, I rediscovered this song by the band Journey while watching the TV show GLEE.
This song really sums up how I feel about the Swiss National Football team right now.
Going into the game against Bulgaria on Saturday, both Suisse and the home team have only 3 points after 3 games in the qualification for EURO 2012. Montenegro leads the group with 10 points in 4 games and England has 7 points in 3 games. Wales is last with zero point.
With only the top 2 teams having a chance to go to the EURO 2012, a draw is not good enough for both Suisse and Bulgaria.
This morning, I asked 11 football experts at my company to predict the score.
The results are (Bulgaria-Suisse): 3-0, 2-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-1, 0-2, 0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 2-0, and 1-0
The 3 experts who predicted a Swiss victory are an actuary from Romania, an actuary from northern Germany, and a risk manager from Aarau. No Swiss person believes in Suisse (*).
It is not hard to understand this pessimism (or realism if you listen to my friend Dominik).
Last month, Suisse (ranked 23rd in the world) went to Malta for a friendly. This was the kind of match a big team would schedule to give confidence to your strikers. Malta is currently ranked 156th in the world, just below Fiji, New Caledonia, Cambodia, and Turkmenistan and just above Madagascar and Cayman Islands.
The game ended 0-0. Despite receiving two penalties, the Swiss could not score. And I was there. One of a few Swiss fans who travelled to Malta.
After I came back from Malta, I was so upset at the performance of the Swiss team that I decided to write a letter to the Swiss Football Federation (SFV). I addressed the letter to the President, the coach, and the team captain.
I told them who I am and how many times and the places I have followed the team. I told them how disappointed I was in Malta. I asked the team captain to reimburse the cost of my flights and my hotel in Malta. I gave him the number of my bank account at the post office.
I felt I had to write that letter. If nothing else, they needed to know the sacrifices the fans were making.
Nine days later, I received these.
The man in charge of media at the Federation wrote to me:
1) to thank me for writing the letter
2) to make up a bit for any inconvenience by giving me an exclusive Swiss training shirt and
3) to ask for my continued support
I WAS SPEECHLESS!!
Immediately, I demonstrated my belief by applying for the 'Follow The Team' ticket package on UEFA.com
The Team was Switzerland.
In Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday night, I will be in the stadium wearing this exclusive shirt.
and I will wear it too when Suisse goes to Wembley in June.
and if Suisse wins both games, may be the SFV will hire me as the official mascot.
HOPP SUISSE!!!
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people
(here is the song 'dont stop believin' performed by the cast of GLEE on X factor show)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmbPcotSfY&feature=related
(*) for many people living in Zurich, Aarau is a foreign country.
Born and raised in south Detroit...
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues...
Recently, I rediscovered this song by the band Journey while watching the TV show GLEE.
This song really sums up how I feel about the Swiss National Football team right now.
Going into the game against Bulgaria on Saturday, both Suisse and the home team have only 3 points after 3 games in the qualification for EURO 2012. Montenegro leads the group with 10 points in 4 games and England has 7 points in 3 games. Wales is last with zero point.
With only the top 2 teams having a chance to go to the EURO 2012, a draw is not good enough for both Suisse and Bulgaria.
This morning, I asked 11 football experts at my company to predict the score.
The results are (Bulgaria-Suisse): 3-0, 2-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-1, 0-2, 0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 2-0, and 1-0
The 3 experts who predicted a Swiss victory are an actuary from Romania, an actuary from northern Germany, and a risk manager from Aarau. No Swiss person believes in Suisse (*).
It is not hard to understand this pessimism (or realism if you listen to my friend Dominik).
Last month, Suisse (ranked 23rd in the world) went to Malta for a friendly. This was the kind of match a big team would schedule to give confidence to your strikers. Malta is currently ranked 156th in the world, just below Fiji, New Caledonia, Cambodia, and Turkmenistan and just above Madagascar and Cayman Islands.
The game ended 0-0. Despite receiving two penalties, the Swiss could not score. And I was there. One of a few Swiss fans who travelled to Malta.
I told them who I am and how many times and the places I have followed the team. I told them how disappointed I was in Malta. I asked the team captain to reimburse the cost of my flights and my hotel in Malta. I gave him the number of my bank account at the post office.
I felt I had to write that letter. If nothing else, they needed to know the sacrifices the fans were making.
Nine days later, I received these.
The man in charge of media at the Federation wrote to me:
1) to thank me for writing the letter
2) to make up a bit for any inconvenience by giving me an exclusive Swiss training shirt and
3) to ask for my continued support
I WAS SPEECHLESS!!
Immediately, I demonstrated my belief by applying for the 'Follow The Team' ticket package on UEFA.com
The Team was Switzerland.
In Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday night, I will be in the stadium wearing this exclusive shirt.
and I will wear it too when Suisse goes to Wembley in June.
and if Suisse wins both games, may be the SFV will hire me as the official mascot.
HOPP SUISSE!!!
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people
(here is the song 'dont stop believin' performed by the cast of GLEE on X factor show)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmbPcotSfY&feature=related
(*) for many people living in Zurich, Aarau is a foreign country.
No comments:
Post a Comment