The agony and ecstasy of being a football fan! Swiss fan goes viral

A Swiss fan encapsulated the agony and ecstasy of football last night as he was seen on the verge of tears as time ran out against France before ripping his shirt off just minutes later to celebrate his team’s stunning last minute equaliser.

Switzerland knocked out the world champions in Bucharest last night, beating them 5-4 on penalties after a thrilling late comeback that saw them fight back from 3-1 down in the last ten minutes with goals from Haris Seferovic and Mario Gavranovic.

Just two minutes before they levelled, one Swiss fan was seen wracked with despair. 

The camera panned to the young man as his face tore in anguish, tugging at his shirt collar and looking up into the sky as his eyes appeared to brim with tears.

But as stoppage time loomed, Gavronic was picked out with a scything through ball from Swiss captain Granit Xhaka. Gavronic turned and put the French centre-half on his backside before lashing the ball into the bottom corner, making it 3-3.

Jubilation erupted among the Swiss at the Arena Națională and the cameras returned to the despairing fan who was now engulfed by passion, tearing his shirt off hulk-like and screaming down at the field like a victorious warrior.

Social media users were quick to highlight the passionate fan. ‘The same Swiss fan literally a minute apart,’ one person wrote sharing the before and after pictures. ‘Look what one goal can do,’ they added, along with ‘Football’ and a heart emoji.

‘I want Switzerland to win,’ another person wrote. ‘Not because they are the favourites, not because I am a Swiss fan… I want them to win for this man because this was his reaction minutes apart the equaliser.’ 

Moments after the match finished, another wrote: ‘I need the cameras to find that Swiss fan again! Wow.’ Someone else noted: ‘That Swiss fan from yesterday is gonna make a good meme template.’

With France the favourites coming into the game, the unidentified fan and his fellow supporters would have been pleasantly surprised when the Swiss took an early lead in the match, with Haris Seferovic scoring after just 15 minutes.

The rattled French side struggled in the first half to get into the game, and failed to replicate their brilliance that led them to their second world cup in 2018.

It appeared things were going to get worse for the French on the 55th minute, when Benjamin Pavard gave away a penalty, fouling Steven Zuber in the box.

But the game turned on its head when France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris pulled off an impressive save to deny Switzerland’s Rodríguez putting his team 2-0 ahead.

Boyed by the penalty save, France switched on, with young superstar Kylian Mbappe finding Karim Benzema’s run into the box, who took a seemingly impossible touch before knocking the ball past the goalkeeper and into the Swiss net. 

But Benzema wasn’t done yet. Just two minutes later, the Frenchman finished off another fine team move that saw Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann artistically combine in the box, to put France 2-1 up – barely four minutes after the penalty save.

With Swiss hopes already ebbing away, France’s Paul Pogba thought he had put a final nail in the Swiss coffin when, on the 75th minute, he masterfully curled the ball into the top-right-hand corner of the Swiss net from a staggering 30-yards out.

To the surprise of many, Pogba’s goal-of-the-tournament contender was not enough for France to get over the line and  into the quarter final. A frantic final ten minutes of normal time began with Seferovic scoring a deft header to make it 3-2.

Finally, Gavronic’s goal in the 91st minute ensured that the game would go into extra time, stunning France and sending the Swiss fans – and one in particular – wild.

The swiss fan would have been just as emotional half-an-hour later when – after 30 minutes of extra time with no more goals to speak of – the game went to penalties.

The Swiss took the first penalty and scored. France did the same. This was repeated until it was 5-4 on penalties to the Swiss, and getting on for one o’clock in morning.

Mbappe bravely stepped up to the spot to take his team’s fifth penalty, knowing a miss would see the world champions knocked out.

The 22-year-old fired to Swiss keeper Yann Sommer’s right, and Sommer guessed right, reacting quickly to palm the ball away, killing French hopes in the process and sending the Swiss fans wild and into their first quarter final since 1954.