What has been carefully built up over the past few weeks is now set to bear fruit: after an appealing and quiet preliminary round, Switzerland are through to the last 16 of the European Championship and will face big Italy on Saturday.
In a way, the starting position is frighteningly similar to the one and a half years ago at the World Cup in Qatar. Back then, Switzerland were one goal short of winning the group in their final group game. As they failed to do so, Murat Yakin's team faced Portugal instead of South Korea. The round of 16 was held in Lusail, where the final also took place two weeks later. Silvan Widmer was absent due to illness.
And now: In the last group match, a goal conceded in the 92nd minute prevented Switzerland from winning the group. The opponent in the round of 16 is therefore not Denmark, but Italy. The game will be played in Berlin - in the final stadium. Silvan Widmer is suspended.
The parallels are frightening from a Swiss perspective, as the World Cup round of 16 against Portugal ended in a 6-1 disaster. And anyway: with the one exception three years ago against France, Switzerland's hopes in the last ten years have always ended in the first knockout round.
Despite this, or perhaps because of it, there are some indications that things will be different on Saturday evening in the European Championship round of 16. The national team has learned from its mistakes, players and coaches are more level-headed and the atmosphere is different. There is something in the air around the venerable, somewhat remote Waldau Stadium, where the Swiss have been training for almost three weeks.
Atmosphere "much more pleasant"
It is often nuances that make the difference. The campaign in Qatar, for example, was characterized by the desire to make history. And of course the Swiss still want to do that, otherwise they wouldn't have had to come in the first place. This time, however, they have refrained from making this their overriding motto. Instead, the motto of this tournament is simply: We are Switzerland.
The players' performances are calmer, less dogged. Even captain Granit Xhaka said from the outset that he would not be aiming high this time. In Leverkusen, where he celebrated the double last season, he said he was doing well by looking from game to game. He had "set himself a challenge", but he did not want to share it with the public.
Press conferences are no longer about politically charged duels or fans causing illness in hotel rooms. Instead, the players talk about who plays which games in their free time. The atmosphere is "naturally much more pleasant" than in Qatar, says Michel Aebischer. "Everyone knows what it's all about. Everyone is focused. If the media don't have much to write about, that's a compliment for us."
Emerging debates are usually nipped in the bud. The question of the number one goalkeeper: long settled. The pending extension of the coach's contract: postponed until after the tournament. The problems with the training pitch in Stuttgart: a little tedious, but ultimately not a problem.
No additional pressure, but self-confident
Yakin avoided another discussion about the right-back with similar aplomb. He had called up Leonidas Stergiou to replace Widmer, he said immediately after the last group game. The fact that the 22-year-old is actually a trained central defender and only started six times for VfB Stuttgart last season does not seem to play a major role for the national team coach - or he hides it well and surprises everyone again on match day with a special line-up.
And finally, the Swiss skillfully rejected the role of favourites. This is despite the fact that the Azzurri did not make a good impression in the group stage and ultimately had a goal in the 98th minute to thank for their progress. But Italy is Italy, said Remo Freuler succinctly. And Aebischer also pointed out very briefly that their opponents were none other than the current European champions. And not only that: they are also four-time world champions (most recently in Germany in 2006) and have been unbeaten against Switzerland for 31 years.
By pointing out the great history of their opponents, the Swiss are deliberately not putting any additional pressure on themselves, without forgetting their own qualities. When asked what spoke in Switzerland's favor in the round of 16, Aebischer replied: "The preliminary round, our team spirit, we defend well and are just as good on the ball." These are not only more reasons, but also better ones.
SDA
