In Sofia it is still winter at the end of March. The light masts of the Vasil Levski National Stadium rise bleakly into the gray sky. There are no people strolling in the large Borissova Gradina city park that surrounds the stadium. Too cold, too uncomfortable. Bulgaria has been in lockdown again since last Monday. So this is where the Swiss national team starts on Thursday in an international match year, the calendar of which is heavily loaded with World Cup qualifications and European Championship finals. Coach Vladimir Petkovic said, regardless of the atmospheric conditions: “We have a good time ahead of us.”
When the Swiss talk about the upcoming big games, about the “hammer year”, as Petkovic put it, they think of the three duels against Italy or the games in June at the European Championship finals – but probably less of them Surrender to Bulgaria and to the home game on Sunday in the empty St. Gallen Kybunpark against Lithuania. Switzerland has little to gain in Sofia. At the start of the World Cup qualification against number 68 in the FIFA ranking, she is faced with a compulsory task. “The first game is extremely important because it can give positive input,” said Petkovic.
At the end of the way, Switzerland wants to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar in late autumn 2022 and also successfully survive the fourth elimination campaign under Petkovic. To do that directly, she has to win over her group. She is not the favorite because Italy is “rated higher than us,” as Petkovic said. And he admitted: “1st place is a little further away than 2nd place.” Whoever finishes second has to struggle through the playoffs in March 2022 and win two knockout games. “2nd place guarantees nothing,” said Petkovic.
Impeccable record for mandatory tasks
Despite the heavyweight Italy, the Swiss aim to win the group. They see themselves in a position to do so because they “made progress” in the Nations League games against Spain and Germany last year, despite a winless 2020, as players and coaches emphasize again and again. Their problem with this is that they are sometimes playing at eye level with the top teams, apart from a win against Portugal without Cristiano Ronaldo in the late summer of 2016, they have little countable to show in qualifying and final matches against them.
Knowing about this flaw, it is all the more important that Switzerland successfully accomplishes its mandatory tasks. She has become an expert in this area in recent years. In the three elimination campaigns in 2016, 2018 and 2020, Switzerland only lost once to lower-rated teams. That was against Slovenia in October 2014. Under Petkovic she won in all qualifying games together in around 75 percent of the cases. If the games against England (2016 European Championship qualification), Portugal (2018 World Cup qualification) and Denmark (2020 European Championship qualification) are excluded, the success rate even rises to almost 90 percent.
Unknown Bulgaria
The Swiss may overestimate their level compared to the best teams, but they are humble enough to face weaker teams seriously and with the necessary seriousness. “You have to show respect for every opponent, otherwise you can quickly skid unnecessarily,” said striker Haris Seferovic.
It is not their fault that coaches and players in Sofia do not know exactly what to expect. Bulgaria changed coach again in the winter after relegating to Division C of the Nations League. Jasen Petrov is the 15th national coach in the last 20 years. In addition, almost half of the Southeast European squad is made up of debutants. Petkovic will therefore primarily look at his team and adjust the tactics accordingly: “We are playing for victory and want to put the opponent in a situation where he cannot act, but above all has to react.” (sda)
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