Yahoo Sports Switzerland vs Italy: Granit Xhaka leads charge as settled Swiss look to oust Azzurri at Euro 2024
Marco Verratti’s decision last September to leave Paris Saint-Germain for Qatari club Al-Arabi immediately spelt the end of his Italy career.
While the defending European champions have been deprived of an elite, all-action midfielder, their opponents in the last 16 on Saturday have no such problem.
Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka is the heartbeat of a team that is into the knockout stage for a sixth tournament in a row.
The ex-Arsenal man will be pivotal to his side’s chances against Italy, coming off the back of a brilliant season with Bundesliga winners Bayer Leverkusen.
Xhaka is now 31, approaching 130 caps, and only Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo have more European Championship man-of-the-match awards since Euro 96.
He almost always delivers in his national team colours and embodies exactly what Switzerland have been about since the turn of the century.
Manager Murat Yakin presides over a well-organised outfit, as shown in their 1-1 draw with hosts Germany on Sunday, but owes much to his predecessor, Vladimir Petkovic.
Petkovic, Switzerland head coach from 2014-21, felt success in international football was grounded in cultivating a club environment, limiting the squad to a small pool of players.
That meant being less reactive to club form, but it gave players greater familiarity with each other’s game.
That thinking has bred a vastly experienced spine of the team, right through from goalkeeper Yann Sommer (at his sixth tournament, aged 35) to Xherdan Shaqiri (seventh tournament, 32), via Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez, Xhaka, Remo Freuler and Fabian Schar.
These Euros have seen 23-year-old Manchester United target Dan Ndoye breathe new life into the Switzerland side, and Italy will be aware of his threat.
“This last season at Bologna was the best he has ever played,” says Lucas Werder, from Swiss newspaper Blick. “He will be a key factor in the game.”
Switzerland will draw on memories of the last Euros, when they knocked out favourites France on penalties at this stage after a thrilling 3-3 draw.
“It gives us hope,” says Werder. “Before that, we were always out in the first knockout round. Now they know they can do it, and this side of the draw is quite open.”
Swiss football expert Craig King says: “Switzerland can beat anyone. After a good group stage, they’ve given everyone belief they can get to the quarter-finals and maybe even further.”
Italy reached the knockout stage only after a 98th-minute equaliser from Mattia Zaccagni against Croatia in their final group game.
This is not a vintage Italy side but they will also sense an opportunity on the kinder side of the draw.
“This is a new Italy and they are trying to find their identity,” explains Nima Tavallaey Roodsari, from the Italian Football Podcast.
This is a new Italy and they are trying to find their identity
Defensive stalwarts Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are much missed, as are injured absentees Destiny Udogie, Domenico Berardi, Francesco Acerbi and Giorgio Scalvini.
The midfield misses the industry of Verratti. Further forward, Federico Chiesa was crucial to their Euro 2020 glory but has not been the same player since his 10-month injury lay-off in 2022. “I have serious doubts about whether he ever will be,” adds Tavallaey Roodsari.
Fortunate to beat Albania 2-1, outclassed by Spain in a 1-0 defeat and needing that late leveller to draw 1-1 with Croatia to escape Group B, Italy have ridden their luck.
They might be defending champions, but it is Switzerland who look more settled, more functional and who will be awkward opponents in their section of the draw, with England in line to face the winners in the quarter-finals.
