Swiss complied and took out his ticket for the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar 2022 after getting a hard-fought victory (23) in view of Serbianin a frantic match that they had to come back to secure second place in Group G, which Brazil won despite their defeat (1-0) this Friday against Cameroon.
Now the combination of Murat Yakin will face Portugal next Tuesday in search of a place in the quarterfinals, where they could face the Spanish team, if Luis Enrique’s team overcomes their corresponding duel against Morocco.
The match seemed to go to the Swiss when shaqiri he made the first after taking advantage of an assist from Sow in the 20th minute. However, shortly after mitrovic equalized and Vlahovic made the second for Serbia after an error in the rival defense. Embolo appeared in the last minute of the first part and just started the second Freuler He put the final 2-3 to the joy of Switzerland.
Without great frills in their game but with great reliability in front of goal, Yakin’s team showed their best version so far in the World Cup. Thus, he demonstrated his scoring ability - until now he had only scored one goal - to face the strength and intensity of the Serbs. Plungerthe architect of the 1-0 defeat of Cameroon, once again played a key role, along with Shaquiri who became the Swiss player with the most appearances in a World Cup (11).
The match left that exchange of blows at the beginning, the result of the intensity and high pressure with which the two teams came out. Not even half a minute had passed when Xhaka hooked a ball on the edge that he saved Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, to later cover Embolo’s rejection point-blank. Serbia had their reply on five minutes in Zivkovic’s boots, but his shot hit the post.
All this was the preamble to what happened shortly after. The scoring festival started by Shaquiri, Mitrovic and Vlahovic came back for Serbia and there was time for one more before the break, Embolo’s for 2-2. Far from speculating on a draw that would ensure their ticket to the round of 16, the Swiss team wanted to decide after the restart.
More connected in the locker room return, Switzerland developed a play of the gear of a clock to return the advantage to those of Murat Yakin. After a good triangulation, Vargas assisted with a heel so that Freuler, after three minutes, in the small area, shot and sent the ball into the back of the net.
From there, those of Dragan Stojkovic they turned to the opposite field, in need of a win to have options for the round of 16, but the order and defensive solidity of the Swiss was able to contain at times the attacks of Jovic, Mitrovic and company. Even so, the Swiss team was able to extend their lead almost at the end, but Fassnacht missed with his shot.
DATA SHEET.
-RESULT: SERBIA, 2 - SWITZERLAND, 3. (2-2 at halftime).
-ALIGNMENTS.
SERBIA: Milinkovic-Savic, Zivkovic (Radonjic, min.78), Milenkovic, Veljkovic (Gudelj, min.55), Pavlovic, Kostic, Milinkovic-Savic (Maksimovic, min.68), Lukic, Tadic (Djuricic, min.78 ), Vlahovic (Jovic, min.55) and Mitrovic.
SWITZERLAND: Kobel, Widmer, Akanji, Schaer, Ricardo Rodríguez, Shaqiri (Zakaria, min.69), Xhaka, Freuler, Sow (Fernandes, min.68), Vargas (Fassnacht, min.83) and Embolo (Okafor, min. 96).
-GOALS.
0-1 min. 20: Shakiri.
1-1 min. 26: Mitrovic.
2-1 min. 35: Vlahovic.
2-2 min. 44: plunger.
2-3 min. 48: Freuler.
