Johan Manzambi is the only newcomer Murat Yakin has called up for the USA trip. The young man from Geneva is currently experiencing a meteoric rise that has taken him all the way to the national team at the age of just 19.
04.06.2025, 11:46
04.06.2025, 11:48
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- Johan Manzambi made an impressive rise last year and fought his way into the Bundesliga team at SC Freiburg.
- The reward: national team coach Murat Yakin called up the 19-year-old for the first time for the two games against Mexico and the USA.
- Manzambi's rapid rise also came as a surprise to himself. "It happened very quickly until I found myself in the starting eleven of the first team, but I worked a lot for it," says the newcomer to the national team.
At the beginning of the year, he probably couldn't have imagined that he would end up in Salt Lake City in June, where the Swiss national team will play the first of two international friendly matches against Mexico on Saturday (10 p.m. Swiss time) during their trip to the USA. With just one brief appearance in the first half of the past Bundesliga season in his studs, the Romand was still a long way from being in the limelight.
From the reserves to the first eleven
Johan Manzambi was a regular for SC Freiburg's second team in the fourth-highest German league and was nominated for the Swiss U20 national team. His development was quiet, but suddenly everything happened very quickly for the Servette-trained midfielder.
"I'm a bit surprised myself, because it happened very quickly until I found myself in the starting eleven of the first team, but I worked a lot for it," he explains to media representatives who have traveled to the USA.
Manzambi made the most of the opportunities his coach Julian Schuster gave him this spring. He has been a regular substitute since mid-January and scored his first goal in the Bundesliga on April 12. The goal came in the 90th minute of the match between Freiburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach and was tantamount to the winning goal for the Breisgau side.
In the last five Bundesliga matchdays, the Geneva teenager, who is strong in the tackle, has started four times and contributed two assists and another goal. In the duel with Granit Xhaka's Bayer Leverkusen (2:2), he finally convinced Murat Yakin, who was visiting Baden-Württemberg, to take him with him to America.
Freiburg, the right springboard
Skilfully juggling between German and French, the Geneva native describes his decision to leave his home country at the age of 17 and join SC Freiburg instead of continuing his education in Switzerland.
"Today you can say that it was a move that paid off," he says. "Freiburg's sporting project, where many players go through the U19s and U21s before making their breakthrough, was the right one for me. Everything went as the club had predicted when they made me the offer. It went even faster than expected."
However, the rise of the young midfielder, who can play both in front of the defense and as a number 10 - "that's what makes him so special," says Julian Schuster - was not enough for SC Freiburg to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in its history.
But: "The Europa League is already good," says Manzambi, adding that he wants to build on this success next season despite the tough competition: "We have a high-quality squad. The aim will be to play as many games as possible."
Before then, Johan Manzambi is hoping to get his first minutes in the Swiss national team jersey on the trip to the USA. "I want to prove that I haven't stolen my place. And even if I can't play, I'll be very happy with the experience," he explains.
Under the wing of Zakaria
At the Swiss national team's first training session on one of the "soccer" pitches at the "U of U", the University of Utah, the former Servette junior certainly made a good impression on his team-mates, most of whom he had already met on the plane.
After the twelve-hour journey to Salt Lake City, most of the players are feeling the eight-hour time difference. Manzambi repeatedly receives cheers from Denis Zakaria during training. Like Manzambi, the AS Monaco captain went through junior training at Servette: "He's a player who inspired me. He knew my older brother, who also played for Servette, so we had a little chat before I was nominated. He's a very good person," says the national team newcomer about Zakaria.
There is no doubt that the valuable advice from his Geneva colleague will help Manzambi to find his feet in the Swiss national team. And with his rapid rise, a single nomination could be enough to make him more than just a surprise guest.
