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FootballFacing Lugano, Yverdon is counting on its stadium and “total football”
Yverdon-Sport hosts Lugano on Wednesday at the Stade Municipal in the Swiss Cup. Its captain William Le Pogam wants to believe that “anything can happen”.
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- Maxime Rérat
William Le Pogam and Yverdon hope to have a great evening on Wednesday.
Pascal Muller/freshfocusYverdon will not have an easy task on Wednesday (8:30 p.m.) in the round of 16 of the Swiss Cup. At the Municipal Stadium, players from Northern Vaud will welcome Lugano, currently 2nd in the Super League, one point behind leader Basel.
The Ticino residents have tamed the Cup in recent years, at the same time as they have seen their club grow and count more and more in the Super League championship. The Bianconeri have played the last three finals for one victory, in 2022 against Saint-Gall, and two defeats, ahead of YB and Servette. “It’s one of the best teams in this competition,” confirms Yverdon captain William Le Pogam.
Pressing and intensity
Four days after their defeat at home to Lucerne (0-1), the Yverdonois want to raise their heads. Sunday, Lugano seemed to run out of juice on Sunday against Servette (3-0 defeat). But the Ticino have a strong argument with their great bench depth.
“The basic eleven should be largely reworked compared to the team that played in Geneva,” anticipates Le Pogam. We played them twice this season and it wasn’t the same team. Almost all positions are doubled. It is therefore difficult to really know who is going to play, but we analyzed them a lot on video,” assures Le Pogam.
“They are very clever, they know how to play with the vagaries of the game.”
The French player expects Mattia Croci-Torti’s men to take the game into their own hands. “We will have to try to counter them, play total football by applying a lot of pressure and using intensity. It will be important to score first.” Because Le Pogam knows: Lugano has enough experience in knockout matches to manage a score. “They are very clever, they know how to play with the vagaries of the game. It’s part of their trademark.”
The captain makes no secret of it: eliminating the Cornaredo residents and reaching the quarter-finals would be a bit of a surprise. “But anything can happen in the Swiss Cup, especially at home,” he recalls. We are going to play our card to the fullest.”
“I want to lift the trophy!”
The Vaudois will need a big performance to get over the hump. However, the balance between the two teams has been balanced since the start of the season: a victory for YS against Lugano 2-0 at the end of October at home and a defeat by the same score at the beginning of November across Gotthard.
And Yverdon has also shone in the Cup in the recent past. It was in 2022, when the club was still playing in the Challenge League. The residents of the Municipal Stadium reached the semi-finals (2-0 defeat against Saint-Gall), after eliminating Zurich and Lausanne-Sport.
Just like Anthony Sauthier and Kevin Martin, William Le Pogam was already there. “Of course we still talk about this epic with our teammates. We have anecdotes, we show them that it can be a very good competition, with magical moments. As captain, I want to relive such emotions and lift the trophy!”
