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Switzerland is not supposed to do this sort of thing. The Swiss have earned a reputation for being to the Euros what Mexico is to the World Cup: they always qualify from the group stage but never get past the round of 16, except for the time they knocked out France on penalties three years ago.
But this time it was different. Switzerland dominated defending champions Italy and earned a 2-0 victory. “It’s not just the victory that counts,” manager Murat Yakin said. “It’s the way we won. That’s a great reward.”
Switzerland’s pre-tournament suspicions were that this might be the tournament where their record of five consecutive World Cup and Euro qualifying rounds – something matched only by France – might end. Instead, they may be disproving the other half of the reputation, the sense that they never really leave a lasting impression on a tournament. This victory itself surely constitutes the best result of the 21st century, in front of a Berlin crowd dominated by the Swiss red shirts.
Italy did not seem ready for the challenge of facing Switzerland, which was a big surprise as Yakin’s team played in the same way as they had throughout the group stage. In particular, there was a strong similarity to the way they had beaten Hungary in the first group game, with a lot of rotation on the left.
Yakin suggested that he actually wanted his team to diversify its attacking threat. “I wanted our game to play a little bit more on the right,” he said. “To exploit both flanks more, not just the left flank. It makes our game plan more unpredictable.”
But from the outside, everything seemed to be leaning to the left.
On paper, Switzerland use a three-man defense, a system Yakin surprisingly opted for after a disappointing qualifying campaign, which raised doubts about his job security. But the three-man defense on paper becomes something different.
Ricardo Rodriguez, the former left-back renowned for his crossing ability, does not remain at left centre-back but instead makes sudden, overlapping runs. This allows Michel Aebischer, who is emerging as one of the stars of the tournament at 27, to switch from full-back to bonus number 10. And the move means Ruben Vargas, the left-sided forward, can stay wide or dart inside in turn, always surprising his opponent with his movement. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, the Italy right-back, had perhaps the most difficult game of his career in the 1-0 group stage defeat to Spain, bamboozled by the footwork of Spain winger Nico Williams. That experience was not much better, as various players buzzed around him – note Rodriguez, Aebichser and Vargas, all in the space he was supposed to defend.
It wasn’t just Rodriguez who caused the surprise by overlapping down the left. Such was the Swiss threat on that side that the first goal came when Dan Ndoye, the Swiss right winger, suddenly appeared down the left to combine with Vargas. That run distracted Di Lorenzo and his defensive colleague Alessandro Bastoni, opening up a passing lane from Vargas to Remo Freuler, who burst into the box and finished via a deflection.
Vargas scored the second goal, which seemed to have sealed the outcome of the match, just 27 seconds into the second half. Once again the goal came from a left sided combination, this time with Aebischer in his usual position on the outside, Granit Xhaka pushing forward in the lane and Vargas completing the triangle by moving inside LEFT. His shot, curled beautifully into the far corner, was a perfect example.
“Just before the second half, Granit said to me: ‘Ruben, please score a goal’,” he said. “When I got the ball, I remembered it. »
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Italy offered little. This was their fourth game of the tournament – they conceded the first goal in each of them. They have become one of the most confusing teams in international football. It was strange enough that they won Euro 2020 and failed to qualify for World Cups on both sides. Now their team simply lacks individual quality. Only four key players from their European Championship success three years ago played a major role here. Goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma was excellent once again. The aforementioned Di Lorenzo endured a difficult tournament. Midfielder Nico Barella now plays a different, much deeper role, while winger Federico Chiesa has not been the same since his year-long absence with a serious knee injury. You look at this team and wonder where the star quality is, particularly in attack.
Aebischer has an exceptional tournament (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
For almost a century, Italy has had a reputation for defensive football, but the irony is that they have always produced top-class strikers; the narrative was that it was frustrating that they did not get the most out of them. Today, Italy has gradually moved to a more attacking style, but have they produced a world-class striker since the generation that won the World Cup in 2006?
Manager Luciano Spalletti gave a long, rambling and downbeat press conference as he admitted his team were not good enough but surprisingly focused on his side’s lack of physicality on the hottest day of the tournament.
“We need players with more physicality,” he said. “When you think you can play because of quality, but in terms of tempo you lose that intensity and can’t maintain it for 90 minutes, it’s only natural that you then have to mix things up and bring physical,” he said. “We saw in these one-on-one duels that we struggled and that made it difficult to recover the ball.”
Physical elements are always a big part of the game, and Italy have long been embarrassed by their apparent lack of physicality – often cited as a reason why they prefer to play defensively, to avoid being exposed to one-on-one duels. But Switzerland have shown themselves to be superior in terms of technical quality, imagination and combination in the final third. “All the other coaches have managed 20 games, some more – I’ve only had ten,” Spalletti protested, with some justification.
But the Italian investigation can wait, especially since Spalletti must hold a new press conference tomorrow. It was Switzerland. “We have to savor the enthusiasm we have created,” Yakin said. “We achieved this with blood, sweat and tears, not luck.” They will face either England or Slovakia in the next round and, based on their performances so far, Switzerland will be favorites against either one.
(Top image: Swiss players celebrate their deserved victory against Italy. Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
News Source : www.nytimes.com
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