SION, SWITZERLAND – Sion fans were celebrating Sunday night after their team defeated Neuchatel Xamax 2-0 in a one-sided match, with Neuchatel never rising to the occasion.
It was Sion’s 12th Swiss Cup victory in 12 finals.
The train trip to Basel, site of the final, left a less positive trail, with one person injured by the crowd as it passed through Lausanne, according to ATS news agency. The train cars were heavily damaged, with two fires set in one train and windows broken. A dozen people were reportedly arrested, mainly for having fireworks.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Basel, easily the favourites, thoroughly thumped second-tier Lausanne 6-0 Sunday 9 May to take the Swiss Cup. Basel is considered a likely candidate for the Premier League next season, according to Swissinfo. The Swiss national team for the World Cup games in South Africa this summer will be announced Tuesday and Basel stars Valentin Stocker and Xherdan Shaqiri will be hoping to have made the list of players.
Links to other sites (Fre): Le Matin, 20 Minutes on national team candidates
Video, swissinfo
(GenevaLunch) - Tottenham moved up to fourth spot in the Premier League with a stunning 9-1 victory over Wigan. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for Spurs but it was an amazing five-goal spell by Jermain Defoe, including a seven minute hat-trick, which determined the match. At the top of the table Chelsea maintained their five-point lead with a routine 4-0 win over Wolverhampton while Manchester United beat Everton 3-0 to take second place. Arsenal lost 1-0 at Sunderland while Liverpool could only manage a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City. Hull City and West Ham played out a 3-3 thriller.
The Swiss missed out on a second world title when their beach football team lost to Brazil in the final.
In the Swiss Cup Lausanne beat Lugano 2-1 while Neuchatel Xamax lost to Young Boys 0-1.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – FC Sion came from behind to beat the Bernese club Young Boys 3-2 in Bern Wednesday 20 May but the excitement of taking the Swiss Cup title home was marred by serious skirmishes between football fans. Fights that broke out before and after the match caused damage to property, and several people were hospitalized.
Thousands of FC Sion fans assembled in Bern’s main train station, seriously inconveniencing other passengers and causing damage, according to Bernese Cantonal Police (Ger).
