When Silvan Widmer gave his first interview as a player for FSV Mainz 05 in August three years ago, he was asked to start by answering the question of what the Swiss national team did better than the DFB eleven.
The answer would have left room for mocking or even malicious undertones, but the new signing from the Rheinhessen team refrained from doing so in the small group of journalists during the training camp in Tyrol.
In terms of names, the German national team is ranked higher, “but we performed better as a team on the pitch,” said Widmer. This led to Jogi Löw and his players saying goodbye to England in the round of 16 of the European Championship, while the Swiss only lost to Spain in the penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.
