Neymar doubtful, support for Infantino from SFV

After a week and a half in Qatar, the Swiss footballers played their first World Cup game on Thursday and defeated Cameroon 1-0. But the days before gave us something to talk about – and the forthcoming group games are already a topic to talk about. Four insights after the first week of the World Cup.

The meaning of Xherdan Shaqiri

Before the World Cup, no one really knew how Xherdan Shaqiri’s form was. Except maybe Shaqiri himself, because in his long career he has often found solutions in unusual situations. This time he had not played a competitive game in more than six weeks since the end of the season with the Chicago Fire. He trained with Chicago’s partner club FC Lugano in order to keep the form in such a way that at least he knew how to assess it.

And now? After the first World Cup game, most are as smart as before. Shaqiri played rather discreetly by his standards, but in the end it was he again who had his (for once right) foot in the game for the only Swiss goal. The pass to goalscorer Breel Embolo was Shaqiri’s twelfth goal involvement at World and European Championships (8 goals, 4 assists). He was involved in 50 percent of all Swiss goals in the last four finals.

Shaqiri got the four templates in the four starting games. Against Albania (1-0 at EURO 2016), against Brazil (1-1 at World Cup 2018) and against Wales (1-1 at EURO 2021), he created the only Swiss goals with a corner kick – and with his left – to the goalscorers Fabian Schär, Steven Zuber and Embolo. As an old wise starting game specialist, Shaqiri said after the 1-0 win against Cameroon: “Unlike other big teams, we did our duty.” But he also said: “Sure, we have to improve significantly.”

As a “big team”, the Swiss are still up against the oversized team Brazil and the similarly sized team Serbia in the preliminary round at this World Cup.

The meaning of Neymar

Those who sat in the stadium in Doha first for Switzerland-Cameroon and a few hours later for Brazil-Serbia felt like they were two different events. The ambiance was cool and calm at midday in the half-empty Al-Janoub Stadium, hot-blooded and loud in the evening at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, which was sold out with almost 90,000 spectators. At least half of the visitors wore a yellow shirt, and the Brazilians brought joie de vivre, euphoria and self-confidence to Qatar.

And that’s how the Seleção played. The 2-0 victory was too deep, the robust Serbs tried to limit the damage. On Monday, the Swiss will try to limit the damage. National coach Murat Yakin was also in the stadium and saw that the record world champion at this World Cup is much more than just Neymar. The star of the team had to be replaced injured after a number of hard kicks from the opponent, he cried on the bench, not just because of the pain. The ankle on his foot is sprained, according to Brazilian media, Neymar will be out against Switzerland.

It almost seemed as if the Serbs had oriented themselves to the legendary duel between Neymar and the Swiss Valon Behrami at the 2018 World Cup with this hardness. Behrami took Neymar out of the game and stole the show from him. There are these images of Behrami standing next to Neymar, who is writhing on the ground; how Behrami laughs almost contemptuously when he sees the yellow card for a foul on Neymar. Behrami said after the match: “Sometimes he suffered more than was necessary.”

Today’s Swiss assistant coach Vincent Cavin was already part of the 2018 World Cup staff. He doesn’t want to see Behrami reduced to harshness, he praises him for his cleverness, for his anticipation. And Cavin says on Friday after training: “Today we also have midfielders who can defend well – and we also have players today who can be tough.”

Hardness will be needed everywhere on Monday, even without Neymar. The Brazilians took several fearsome strikes to the World Cup. And coach Tite surprisingly seems ready to push the offensive. Against Serbia, Rodrygo, Gabriel Jesus, Antony and Gabriel Martinelli replaced starters Vinicius Junior, Richarlison, Neymar and Raphinha. Without the dominant Neymar, Brazil were even more variable, agile and enthusiastic in the final minutes.

The meaning of the Serbia game

Switzerland – Serbia will also be there again this year as in 2018, in the last and probably decisive game. This affiche threw so much at the 2018 World Cup off track, almost the entire Swiss Association (SFV), after goal scorers Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri cheered with the double-headed eagle gesture, which was a provocation for the Serbs.

Four and a half years later, this emotionally charged story is still present. On Wednesday, a journalist from the USA asked Xhaka a question that lasted more than 40 seconds and ended up revolving around the “One Love” armband, which was temporarily banned by the world association Fifa, with which some European World Cup participants had sent a signal against discrimination want.

But the question started with the journalist saying that Xhaka’s father fought for human rights in the former Yugoslavia. It would be amazing if the journalist did not know that Xhaka’s father’s fight in the former Yugoslavia had led to his imprisonment – which in turn had been an explanation for Xhaka’s double-headed eagle in 2018. The Swiss media chief Adrian Arnold finally answered the question.

Later, a Serbian journalist wanted to know what Xhaka expected from the Brazil – Serbia game – and whether he thought that he and “Mister Shaqiri” would focus on Switzerland – Serbia. Xhaka said: “To be honest, we don’t care about the Serbia-Brazil result.” And: “We are here to play football and not to create stories.”

The Swiss currently seem to be dealing with the explosiveness of the Serbia match. Serbian journalists also tried to talk to Xhaka after the Cameroon game. The Swiss captain answered calmly until media chief Arnold asked him not to ask any more questions – because the Swiss had just played against Cameroon, not Serbia.

The importance of sports policy

It was difficult for the SFV to deal with the “One Love” topic. Why didn’t the associations fight more strongly against the ban on FIFA? “We wanted to protect the players,” replies SFV President Dominique Blanc. “They are here to play a World Cup.” He was very disappointed and sad that Fifa decided so late to ban the captain’s armband – and threatened the captains with penalties such as warnings or even more.

Blanc is one of the initiators of the “Human Rights Working Group”, which was founded by eleven European World Cup participants and aims to draw attention to human rights in Qatar with campaigns. This gave rise to the idea of ​​the “One Love” pad.

On Friday evening, Blanc spoke publicly for the first time since the ban. He’s sitting in a restaurant in a souk in Doha, showing how much he cares about this issue. Among other things, he refers to the improved conditions for migrant workers in Qatar, which can also be attributed to the efforts of the European associations. And he promises once again that his group will continue to exert pressure after the World Cup.

But it is also clear that the SFV is not opposed to Fifa and its controversial president Gianni Infantino, like the Danish association. “Fifa must unite more than 200 associations,” says Blanc, “that would also be a difficult task for the Pope or Jesus Christ.”