ISERLOHN (GERMANY) (ITALPRESS) – Solid as a bank, precise as a clock. In the Berlin that in 2006 saw us climb to the top of the world, Italy rediscovers that Switzerland that three years ago blocked our path to Qatar. And today as then, the biggest mistake would be to take our neighbors lightly. Because Switzerland may not have great champions but it has a united group and well-oiled gears, thanks above all to Murat Yakin. A former midfielder with pace and vision, a talented coach capable of taking Basel to the semi-finals of the Europa League, in August 2021 he was called to lead the red-cross national team in place of Vladimir Petkovic and immediately made a big splash, closing the world cup qualifying group ahead of Italy, the new European champions and who a few months earlier had scored three goals against Shaqiri and his teammates at the Olimpico. Nil-nil in Basel, one to one in Rome, with Jorginho the protagonist in a negative way: in Switzerland he has a penalty saved by Sommer, in the return match he shoots it sky-high after Di Lorenzo had remedied Widmer’s advantage. Two errors from the spot that will effectively cost them the pass to the Winter World Cup, net of the flop in Belfast and above all Barbera’s Caporetto against modest Macedonia. Italy now has the chance to settle accounts with destiny, but woe betide anyone who trusts the statistics because if it is true that Switzerland has beaten us only 8 times in 61 games, the last time in 1993, a complicated match awaits us on Saturday in Berlin. The Swiss know us well, nine of them have played or are still playing in Serie A, and even if in the qualifying round closed behind Romania not everything went smoothly, see the draws with Belarus and Kosovo and the defeat against the same Romanians, at Euro2024 Switzerland showed up in the dress of the big occasions: a show of strength in the debut with Hungary, a draw with Scotland not without regrets and a feat almost achieved with the hosts Germany. With Akanji a fixed point of the defense of Guardiola’s City, Xhaka a metronome reborn in Leverkusen and the eternal Shaqiri anything but stuffed by the golden exile in MLS, Yakin has put together a close-knit orchestra, where everyone knows their own score well. Organization, resilience, character: three years ago Switzerland surprisingly knocked out the more highly rated France and now dreams of another tripping up the Azzurri. Now it’s up to Spalletti to find a way to mess up the Swiss hands. gtr
