Fabian Schar started for Switzerland against Portugal on Tuesday night, but now the Newcastle defender’s World Cup dream is over.
His side have been knocked out, losing 6-1 to a rampant Portugal side that initially left Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
While the free agent didn’t start for his country, Schar did start for his. He retained his place in the starting XI, having missed the first two games of the competition.
But the game against Portugal was a night to forget for Switzerland, and it was a particularly brutal evening for Schar.
He endured a miserable opening 45 minutes. The 30-year-old didn’t get tight enough to Goncalo Ramos, allowing him to score a thunderous opener for his country.
Then Schar made a mistake for the second goal. A corner was thrust into the box by Bruno Fernandes, with Schar mistiming his jump and completely getting under it. Pepe timed his jump, and slammed a header past Yann Sommer.
Newcastle’s number five was taken off at half time, as his nation went on to concede four more goals in the second half.
How the Swiss media reacted to Fabian Schar’s performance vs Portugal
It was a bad night for Schar, who had been suffering from illness heading into the game. That showed on the pitch, and the Swiss media have been rather forgiving when assessing his performance.
20min gave him a rating of 2, which they rank as a ‘very poor performance’.
On Schar, they wrote: “Not a good game by Fabian Schär. He had to be substituted at the break because he was still exhausted from his cold.”
It is a pretty fair assessment of Schar’s night. They certainly could have been more scathing. While he did not play well at all, the fact he had been suffering from illness clearly played a part.
Switzerland as a team did not deliver against Portugal, and are now out of the competition.
Time for Schar to refocus
Schar becomes the second Newcastle player to be knocked out of the World Cup after Garang Kuol’s exit with Australia.
Now the Toon defender must rest and recover in time for domestic football returning. Newcastle’s first game back is on December 21st in the cup, then they face Leicester in the Premier League on Boxing Day.
With two weeks until Newcastle play, Schar has plenty of time to refocus and turn his attention back to his club.
While a World Cup exit is obviously a blow, leaving the competition at this stage is probably a bonus for the Magpies. It should mean that Schar is available immediately after the World Cup break.
It was a rough night in Qatar for Schar, who will be keen to return to his best when he dons the black and white stripes again.
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