Magnin: I'm getting pity fed up

Jun 15 2008 by Gordon Waddell

SWISS skipper Ludovic Magnin reckons his country have contracted Scotland's disease of glorious failure - and he's sick of hearing about it.

The Euro 2008 co-hosts were the first team to slump out of the tournament, crashing to gutsy single-goal defeats against the Czech Republic and Turkey.

But Magnin insists he would swap the plaudits they've had for points any day of the week.

And the Stuttgart full-back insists the Swiss will be giving tonight's game with Portugal their all for the fans who have shelled out fortunes to see them.

He moaned: "It's too easy to blame bad luck. It makes me sick when I always hear: 'Well played but you were unlucky.'

"We lost, we did not reach our goal, there is nothing to celebrate.

"We were criticised in friendlies, which we could not understand, and now we have lost and there's praise. I am having difficulties with that.

"Although it will be hard to motivate ourselves again, thousands of fans in the stadium went through a lot of trouble to get a ticket. We will be playing for them."

Tonight's clash will be coach Kobi Kuhn's last in charge and No.2 Michel Pont admitted: "There is great sadness here.

The day after the Turkey game we were all in a black hole.

"Now the focus is Portugal and we want to win a Euro finals tie for the first time in our history."