World Cup in Qatar: Swiss defied the resistance

It’s done, it’s done: The Swiss footballers qualified for the round of 16 in Qatar, Portugal are Switzerland’s opponents on Tuesday. This is a great achievement for coach Murat Yakin and his team, because the Swiss had no easy task to solve in this crucial match against Serbia. Because the task was not only difficult from a sporting point of view, but also emotionally after the previous story with the double-headed eagle celebration four and a half years ago against the same opponent.

The Swiss have solved the emotional task reasonably well. Despite the dramatic match, they kept a cool head, played football and were the better team in the end. In the second half there was a war of words and unnecessary gestures in front of the Serbian players’ bench, which could lead to an investigation; in stoppage time, Granit Xhaka collided with the Serbian goalkeeper – but in the end they shook hands. The exuberant jubilation of the Swiss was certainly also due to the certainty that they had survived the emotional test to some extent.

The power of the tournament

This not only applies to the players, but also to Murat Yakin in a slightly different way. There was “pressure” there, a “load” dropped, said the coach, who is considered “Mister Cool”. Yakin first has to experience the power that the biggest tournament can develop. The trainer accepted the energy, resisted it, was able to transform it into positivity. That speaks for the World Cup newcomer who, unlike most of his players, has no tournament experience.

The team around the leader and captain Granit Xhaka confirmed with the qualification that they meet their own requirements. And she provided the first proof that this generation of players is at the top of their game – the round of 16 on Tuesday will have to show whether they will continue to develop with Yakin.

Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that the Swiss have more than fulfilled their obligation by reaching the round of 16. The group with Brazil, Serbia and Cameroon was one of the most difficult in the World Cup tableau. And if the Swiss had scored one more goal, they would have overtaken Brazil.

A look at the results in the other World Cup groups also shows that what the Swiss have done is more than fulfilling their obligations: a football giant like Germany was eliminated, as was the case in 2018, as was a heavyweight like Belgium. Uruguay, Mexico and Denmark are also on their way home. European champions Italy didn’t even qualify; pro memoria: also because of Switzerland.

In this context, it should be remembered that Switzerland is a small footballing country because it can only draw from a small pool of talent and not from a large reservoir like most of the top nations. That is sometimes forgotten after Switzerland has only missed the EM 2012 since 2004 and was present at all other tournaments. Participating in tournaments has almost become a matter of course, including surviving the group phase.

After qualifying for the fifth round of the last sixteen in a row, this self-image has also given rise to the team’s self-image that it is among the top sixteen in the world. Not without reason: Ever since coach Ottmar Hitzfeld rebuilt the team after the World Cup in South Africa with the then young generation around U-17 world champions Granit Xhaka, Haris Seferovic and Ricardo Rodriguez; with Xherdan Shaqiri and later the goalie Yann Sommer, this self-image that everything is possible and that the sky is the limit has grown steadily, even under Hitzfeld’s successor Vladimir Petkovic.

images that stay

In view of the difficult group opponents before this World Cup, the players and coaches were less aggressive in carrying the high demands they made on themselves. Nevertheless, the claim to qualify for the round of 16 has always been present. So Manuel Akanji said the day before the game against Serbia: “We are the better team.”

Two days before the decisive match, Pierluigi Tami said that they “definitely want to win”. He said this knowing that a draw would most likely be enough to advance. From the words of the national team director, one could read Yakin’s request to send the team into the tournament with a more offensive plan than before. Yakin has fulfilled this expectation.

In Qatar, up to the Serbian match, none of those tournament moments had been experienced that stuck in the memory of Swiss group games from previous tournaments. That’s what it’s all about in the long run. The match against Serbia delivered such pictures.