After a year with Giorgio Contini, national team coach Murat Yakin has a new assistant: With Davide Callà, much is reminiscent of his predecessor, but the 40-year-old wants to write his own story.
18.03.2025, 20:15
18.03.2025, 20:24
SDA
"Watch the lines! When the ball is out, I'll know immediately," Davide Callà calls out to the players, points to his watch and repeats with a wink: "Line technology." There is a relaxed atmosphere on the football pitch in Almancil, where the Swiss national team is preparing for the test matches against Northern Ireland (on Friday in Belfast) and Luxembourg (on Tuesday in St. Gallen). And the new assistant coach talks to the players as if he has been part of the team for a long time.
"The Campus" is located on Avenida Ayrton Senna Da Silva, so named because the legendary racing driver owned a property in Almancil that he often used as a retreat. However, the complex has little to do with motorsport. In addition to the beautiful grass for footballers, tennis and padel can also be played. There is also a swimming pool, fitness and wellness rooms. An oasis of well-being.
After the players were greeted with rain in the south of Portugal on Monday, they found sunny conditions on Tuesday. With rain forecast again for Wednesday and Thursday, they must have enjoyed the first training session of the camp all the more. It was also the first training session under the direction of Callà. "He's extremely committed and talks to us a lot," says defender Isaac Schmidt, who, like Callà, is a newcomer to the national team. "He also laughs a lot and makes us feel comfortable."
"The ideal man"
This is exactly what the association had hoped for when signing Callà. Sporting director Pierluigi Tami says: "The staff doesn't just need expertise, it also needs people with the right energy." In Callà's case, he is convinced that he has this energy. Yakin also speaks highly of his new assistant and has repeatedly described him as "the ideal man".
Callà succeeds Giorgio Contini in the national team. The most obvious similarity between the two is their multilingualism. Like Contini, Callà, who is a good ten years younger, speaks German, French, Italian, English and Spanish. This is an important aspect in the national team with its large French-speaking Swiss contingent: with Lucas Blondel, who speaks French very well as well as Spanish, ten players in the current 24-man squad are French-speaking.
But Callà is also reminiscent of Contini in many other ways. Both grew up in Winterthur, both have Italian roots, both are considered popular because of their openness. It is not surprising that the national team was looking for a man with a similar profile after the successful collaboration between Yakin and Contini.
No tips from Contini
However, Callà does not see himself as "Contini 2.0": "I don't want to copy someone, I want to be myself." On Sunday, Callà and Contini faced each other in the Super League: Contini as coach of Young Boys, Callà as assistant at FC Basel. Callà deliberately didn't ask for tips or ask how he experienced his time with the national team. "I want to form my own opinion."
Callà will continue to work for FCB and the national team in a dual role until the summer before leaving club football for the time being. Although it will be a challenging time, he is confident that he will be able to manage both jobs. On his tasks in the national team, he says: "I will contribute my ideas and try to support Murat as much as possible, but also challenge him a little at the same time. Why the player and not him? Murat should realize that I think along with him and subordinate everything to our joint success."
Callà was already a favorite for the assistant's job in the national team last year. The club, which was in a much worse sporting situation at the time, did not give him the go-ahead. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity a second time," says Callà. On the one hand, it is a dream come true for him, on the other hand, he can still put a good sign behind a bitter chapter with his commitment. As a player - despite a record-breaking 25 appearances with the U21s - he was not allowed to play an international match with the senior team. "Now I'm really pleased that it's working out as an assistant coach after all."
