The European Championship qualifiers got off to a good start with a 5-0 win over Belarus. Now, in Group A, Israel is waiting for the Swiss national team.
National coach Murat Yakin considers Israel much better than Belarus. The 48-year-old confirmed this at the media conference on Monday. However, he wants his team to be as dominant in Tuesday’s home game in Geneva as they were on Saturday.
“You can see that the system works,” Yaqin said. “The players felt very comfortable on the field.” However, the Basel native did not rule out that there could be changes. In particular, there are question marks behind patient Dennis Zakaria and Gabriel Su.
Causing danger on the left
What was particularly noticeable on Saturday was that attacks on the left were much more dangerous than attacks on the right because the timing and pace were better there. “It is still not clear whether this will lead to personnel changes,” Yakin said. “It is definitely worth considering.” So it is possible that Renato Steffen will be benched again despite his historic hat-trick against Israel.
Yakin expects a more attacking style of play from the opposition than he did on Saturday. “Israel plays with great boldness and boldness up front, with two full-backs serving as attackers.” It is important to stop the attacks as soon as possible and to be up from the start. Perhaps a reference to Saturday, when the Swiss were almost fooled by the opposition in the first minute.
Yakin’s memories of Israel are not the best: the centre-back at that time played his last 49 caps against this opponent – and was substituted injured. The match ended on October 9, 2004 with a score of 2:2 and was the start of a series. Because there was no winner in the next three encounters either. The national teams last met in Basel in October 2009 and parted without a goal.
6 points to start is rare
If Natty also triumphs over Israel, the perfect start will be a fact – not a fait accompli: the last time Switzerland started a European Championship qualifier with two successes was a while ago. In 1994 it won the home matches against Sweden and Iceland. In the end, they successfully qualified for the 1996 finals in England. After 9 unsuccessful attempts, this was the first participation of the national team in the European Championship.
Since then, the Swiss have been more successful. They only missed the World Cups in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000 and in Poland and Ukraine in 2012. 2024 in Germany will be their sixth participation in the European Championship – Switzerland has already prepared for the European Championship on home soil in 2008 (along with Austria).
Possible lineups:
Switzerland: summer; Widmer, Akanji, Elivedi, Rodriguez; Freuler, Zacharias, Shaka; Amdouni, Vargas; whit.
Israel: the glass. Dasa, Vitor, Shlomo, Leidner; Gluch, LaVey, Peretz; Haziza, Weissmann, Suleiman.
absence: Switzerland is without Embolo, Copil, Lutumba, Shaqiri and Zekiri (all injured). Israel without worship (injured).
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