The Swiss had imagined it to be so beautiful. With three points from the opening game against Wales in their luggage, they wanted to get on the plane late on Saturday evening and fly to Rome for the second group game against Italy with ease and a good starting position. They did a lot to make this wish come true. They had more possession, more shots on goal, more passes and more corners than the opponent. But they didn’t have one thing: more goals.
That’s why this 1-1 in the European Championship opening game feels like a defeat. “It’s like we’ve lost two points,” said goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Coach Vladimir Petkovic did not hide his disappointment either. “We are not satisfied.” There are several reasons for the unsuccessful Swiss start: The passivity for 20 minutes after Breel Embolo’s opening goal shortly after the break. Or the poor organization in the defense at the corner, which led to the equalization by Kieffer Moore. Or the final weakness of the Swiss, who only got 4 of 18 shots at the opposing goal.
Yes, the shortcomings in front of the opposing goal. Above all, they deprived the Swiss of their wages for their efforts. “We were not specific enough, not efficient enough,” said Petkovic. “There was no unconditional will to score the goal.” The will, for example, which Embolo showed in the 49th minute, when he sprinted a good chance with a kick, and then remained steadfast in a duel after a corner and scored the opening goal with his head.
Such actions in the opposing penalty area were too rare. The lack of efficiency, the lack of bite, the lack of class, too, are not new. “We had these problems before,” said Petkovic. His team scores quite a few goals, at least not when it comes to Gibraltar (6: 0), Bulgaria (3: 1) or Liechtenstein (7: 0).
Only one goal per game
But it is obvious how difficult Switzerland is at the finals. The game against Wales was the ninth in a tournament under Petkovic. Switzerland scored a total of nine goals. This is one of the reasons why she has only won two of the nine games at World and European Championships under Petkovic. With no one is the meager yield as evident as with Haris Seferovic. Since his goal in the 2014 World Cup game against Ecuador, he has been unsuccessful in eleven finals. Seferovic came to a close four times against Wales, but never scored the goal.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s performance was similarly disappointing. He hit the corner that led to the 1-0, but otherwise his output was poor. After 66 minutes without a shot on goal, he was replaced. Shaqiri wasn’t the player who made the difference, but the player who could be seen to have been marginalized at Liverpool for three years. Substitute Mario Gavranovic posed more danger in the closing stages. The alleged victory goal of the Ticino was canceled by the VAR due to an offside position. It was a centimeter decision.
Petkovic will still not withdraw their trust from Seferovic and Shaqiri. Seferovic got a second chance in every tournament before he had to stay out in the third game. And Petkovic said to Shaqiri after the game. «I changed him because I had to think about other tasks. We need Shaqiri in the next games. “
Italian! Impossible mission?
The next game is against Italy on Wednesday. It’s an opponent that Switzerland has often looked good against throughout history but has rarely won. The last victory was over 28 years ago. A draw in Rome could already be a good result, against an Italy that has been unbeaten in 28 games and recently had nine straight wins.
But even a draw wouldn’t change the fact that Switzerland might have to win the last game against Turkey in order to reach the round of 16. Yes, everything would be so much easier if you had won this opening game against Wales – and had floated into the evening sky of Baku on Saturday with three points and without worries.
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