The Swiss national team has gone eight games without a win. Nevertheless, coach Murat Yakin wants to shuffle the personnel in the test match against Luxembourg.
24.03.2025, 11:40
24.03.2025, 11:53
SDA
Yakin had already announced after the game in Belfast that he would be making a number of changes against Luxembourg and would like to give as many players as possible the chance to show themselves from the start. At the press conference in St. Gallen, he now announced some personnel decisions. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and defender Ricardo Rodriguez will be on the substitutes' bench on Tuesday. Breel Embolo will also not be in the starting line-up.
Due to the many changes and the absences of Granit Xhaka, Manuel Akanji and Remo Freuler, a new captain will once again lead the team onto the pitch in St. Gallen on Tuesday evening. It will be the player with the most international caps, said Yakin, adding that it will be one with 50 to 60 appearances. That suggests Ruben Vargas (50) or Denis Zakaria (57).
"All about the preparation"
The national team coach is leaving many established players on the bench and wants to continue to test which players with less experience can step up for further tasks. The 50-year-old accepts that his team's winless streak will continue. "It's all about preparing for the fall," said Murat Yakin. "We want to gain further insights from the players we don't know so well yet."
Although the coach is not contradicting his statements before the move, he is toning them down. When announcing the squad, he had said that "of course" the result was also important. After all, victories are important for self-confidence. A good two weeks later, he is prioritizing the test over the result against Luxembourg. The priority is the World Cup qualifiers, which begin in September. "That's the key message that perhaps hasn't really come across yet."
Similar negative streak 40 years ago
At the same time, Yakin conceded that a positive result would be good for morale. "But it's not a dream match. The opponents also want to prove themselves." They have been warned about Luxembourg after Saturday's 1-0 win against Sweden. In general, the national team from this small country with a population of just under 700,000 has only lost one of its last five games. "That shows us that we have to show a focused performance tomorrow." Yakin wants to avoid another embarrassment like the 2-1 defeat in the 2008 World Cup qualifiers.
The national coach is therefore relying on his "second guard" to get the desired result on Tuesday. The last time there was a drought of nine games without a win was from April 1984 to April 1985.
The possible line-ups
Switzerland - Luxembourg
St. Gallen. - Tuesday, 20.45 hrs. - SR Jorgji (ALB).
Switzerland: Mvogo; Blondel, Amenda, Zesiger, Muheim; Zakaria, Sow; Ndoye, Rieder, Vargas; Zeqiri.
Luxembourg: Cardoso; Jans, Korac, Carlson, Bohnert; Christopher Martins, Olesen, Barreiro; Madjo, Sinani, Rodrigues.
Remarks: Switzerland without Freuler (ill), Sanches (injured), Akanji, Elvedi and Xhaka (not in the squad), among others.
