Swiss papers react to team’s World Cup exit
“We’re out and we deserved nothing else,” ran the headline in Switzerland’s biggest selling newspaper Blick on Saturday.
Reactions to the Swiss team’s early exit from the World Cup after a 0-0 draw against Honduras were nothing if not sober, despite high hopes the ‘Nati’ would make it to the knock-out round like in 2006.
The consensus Saturday was that the team which beat European Champion Spain 1-0 in its opening match had proved unable to follow through, displaying much talent but little finishing finesse.
Switzerland’s only goal of the tournament came from Cape Verde-born Gelson Fernandes.
“It’s over,” titled French-language daily Le Matin, beneath a picture of downcast Swiss players hugging at the end of the match in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Few repeated earlier complaints that the referee in Switzerland’s 1-0 defeat to Chile on Monday had cost them the match by sending off Valon Behrami after 30 minutes.
Instead, pundits admitted that the Swiss simply hadn’t played well enough.
The team’s failure, “stands for the inability to properly manage the three points earned in the first group game against Spain,” wrote Zurich daily Tages-Anzeiger, employing a term normally used in banking, not football.
“What the team lacked was mainly the decisive bit of class and quality, players with creativity and athletic ability,” the paper wrote.
Even the serious Neue Zuercher Zeitung found fit to mention the team’s fate on its front page, praising keeper Diego Benaglio _ who let in only one goal during the tournament _ as the only player to meet the high demands expected of a World Cup.
“The dream of a round of 16 match against Brazil is over,” NZZ wrote. “Maybe it’s better that way too.”
Blick reminded readers that the tournament should be remembered for the unexpected win against Spain, which it called “probably the biggest achievement in 105 years.”
“Now let’s get England on Sept. 7,” the paper wrote. “Our first opponent in qualifying for the European Championship.”
UN rights council appoints 8 new independent experts
On Friday the U.N. Human Rights Council appointed eight new independent experts (aka ‘special rapporteurs’). Here’s the list, with nationalities in brackets, courtesy of the fantastic Claire Kaplun.
1- As member of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Mr. Ariel DULITZKY [Argentina/United States of America];
2- As member of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, Ms. Faiza PATEL [Pakistan];
3- As Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Christof HEYNS [South Africa];
4- As Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Mr Heiner BIELEFELDT [Germany];
5- As Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Mr. Kishore SINGH [India].
6- As Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights, Mr. Calin GEORGESCU [Romania];
7- As Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi, Mr. Fatsah OUGOUERGOUZ [Algeria].
8- As Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mr. Marzuki DARUSMAN [Indonesia];
Upgraded to WordPress 3.0
Went for the automatic upgrade. So far, no glitches…
Have also rearranged the sidebars a bit, so they’re easier on the eye.
Journalists: Don’t forget non-US readers
Sunday’s story about an escaped elephant rumbling through Zurich was interesting from a journalistic point of view for two reasons.
First, it was amazing to see how many errors some publications were able to insert when they nicked my story.
Second, looking at the bit.ly metrics I noticed that while Yahoo News readers clicked on the video link 3,550 times, some 3,030 clicks came from Finnish tabloid Ilta Sanomat. That’s Finland, a country with 1/60th the population of the United States.
Lesson for journalists: don’t think all of your readers are going to come from the US.
Video: Swiss lawmakers react after vote rejecting UBS tax evasion deal
Source: bundeshausTV.ch
Rights to the end
I spent quite some time in the Human Rights Council today looking for a priest. I was hoping for a confession – from him – as to why the Vatican has failed for 13 years to submit a key report on child rights to the UN. I didn’t find him.
However I did bump into Britain’s Bob Last, an able diplomat and witty observer of the ins-and-outs of the Council. I recommend you read his blog here: The Last Word
-
-
About
Musings of a wire reporter in Geneva. Feel free to contact me with your questions about journalism, Switzerland, or anything else I write about on this blog.
