Physical problem at Nati – Does the SFV need to be more professional, Pierluigi Tami? – Sports

After the bitter elimination at the World Cup against Portugal, the Swiss national team will start their next campaign in March. Thanks to a kind of scientific professionalization, the players should be able to withstand great loads better.

They are ugly, the memories of December 6, 2022 for the Swiss national soccer team and their fans: they lost 6-1 against Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar, and the dream of the quarter-finals vanished into thin air. Not only the result speaks volumes, also in terms of running distances, Switzerland lagged behind the Lusitanians by miles – Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Co. reeled off 10 kilometers less (!). The fitness of the squad was badly questioned.

Measures against vulnerabilities

«Some players suffered against Portugal. Having a game every four days lowered our level. We have to learn from that.” On Thursday, Pierluigi Tami, director of the Swiss national team at the SFV, presented countermeasures to counter this shortcoming. According to Tami, cooperation with the clubs should be intensified and the composition of the staff renewed.

“We now have a fitness trainer who works 100 percent for our national teams. In addition, we are now working with a nutritionist, »says the Ticino about the concrete projects of the SFV, which wants to professionalize itself with it.

We want to get this qualification.

So Switzerland should tackle the upcoming qualification for the Euro 2024 in Germany with as full a tank as possible. The first game on March 26 already offers explosive potential. In Serbian Novi Sad, of all places, the Yakin team meets Belarus, who are not allowed to play games on their own soil due to the war in Ukraine.

The national team does not want to pour oil on the fire before the start of the campaign. Tami is reticent: “It’s an important game, we want to concentrate on our task. We want to win this qualification, we have to show that on the pitch.” The background to the dispute over the venue is the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, in which numerous national players have roots or were even born.

As a reminder, the “keep the ball flat” strategy was also followed in the third group game of the World Cup against Serbia. “Only” in terms of the result was a success with the 3:1: While there was no further double-eagle affair, fisticuffs and provocation on the pitch caused a stir. Let’s hope the strategy works this time.