Switzerland left Serbia and will await Portugal in the round of 16

Football is so good when you don’t think about the result! Switzerland and Serbia played like this because qualifying for the round of 16 of a World Cup was at stake and the Helvetians, a tournament classic, returned to the knockout stage for the fourth time in the last five editions. Second in group G. Their opponent next Tuesday is Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

The game, especially in the first half, was amazing (2-3). Serbia, forced to win and wait for Cameroon to draw against Brazil, came out for the first time with a devastating attack formed by Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Tadic, Kostic, Aleksandar Mitrovic and the ill Vlahovic, which started for the first time in Qatar.

gg.didomi.doWhenConsent(!window.didomiBypass, ‘c:twitterwi-wUmBnnKy’, function () {
var x = document.createElement(‘script’);
x.setAttribute(“type”,”text/javascript”);
x.setAttribute(“src”, “//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”);
x.setAttribute(“charset”, “utf-8”);
$(“.twitter-tweet”).closest( “span” ).append(x);
});

Switzerland, despite the deaths of their goalkeeper Sommer and center-back Elvedi due to a cold. He started better guided by the quality of already veteran Xherdan Shaqiri and in the first minute of the game he forced a double save from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

gg.didomi.doWhenConsent(!window.didomiBypass, ‘c:twitterwi-wUmBnnKy’, function () {
var x = document.createElement(‘script’);
x.setAttribute(“type”,”text/javascript”);
x.setAttribute(“src”, “//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”);
x.setAttribute(“charset”, “utf-8”);
$(“.twitter-tweet”).closest( “span” ).append(x);
});

It was the start of a hectic give and take that resulted in a game with constant alternatives on the scoreboard. Andrija Zivkovic answered at the post from outside the box, but the Swiss headed Shaqiri’s left-footed shot at the near post after receiving from Djibril Sow.

Tadic pulls from Brazil

Serbia is out of the World Cup and Dusan Tadic, their benchmark, led them back from the game with two assists worthy of their great class in two counters after a Swiss error in midfield.

Tadic placed the ball first for Mitrovic to show his strength on the finish by twisting his neck to slot in an unstoppable cross header. Mitrovic, like Shaqiri, has already scored in the decisive Switzerland-Serbia match of the 2018 World Cup.

gg.didomi.doWhenConsent(!window.didomiBypass, ‘c:twitterwi-wUmBnnKy’, function () {
var x = document.createElement(‘script’);
x.setAttribute(“type”,”text/javascript”);
x.setAttribute(“src”, “//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”);
x.setAttribute(“charset”, “utf-8”);
$(“.twitter-tweet”).closest( “span” ).append(x);
});

After half an hour, Tadic produced a brilliant short pass through the Swiss defense that singled out Vlahovic, who crossed in front of goalkeeper Gregor Korbel. The Juventus striker celebrated by putting his finger to his lips. a gesture to silence the press versions that put him in the middle of the skirts mess in the Serbian team.

Before the break, it was 2-2, a great goal after a great collective action by Breel Embolo when he finished a cross to the far post from right-back Silvan Widmer.

gg.didomi.doWhenConsent(!window.didomiBypass, ‘c:twitterwi-wUmBnnKy’, function () {
var x = document.createElement(‘script’);
x.setAttribute(“type”,”text/javascript”);
x.setAttribute(“src”, “//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”);
x.setAttribute(“charset”, “utf-8”);
$(“.twitter-tweet”).closest( “span” ).append(x);
});

The battle continued at the start of the second half. Another choral play allowed Remo Freuler to advance back to Switzerland after a good backheel assist from Rubén Vargas.

Dragan Stojkovic cleared a dull Vlahovic, despite the goal, to bring on Luka Jovic. The Serbian coach had no choice but to keep the offensive bet to try for the miracle but it never came.

History repeats itself at the 2018 World Cup

Tadic remained the only resource for the Balkans, supported only by Filip Kostic, and Switzerland was no longer threatened. The script was repeated and, like the heated match that also decided the group at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, they prevailed again (then 2-1) and the Helvetians qualified.

Serbia, considered by many to be the cap of this World Cup, returned home. His offensive power was not enough for him because his defense could not maintain the balance that brought him to Qatar.

Serbian

two3

Switzerland

Serbia: Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; Nikola Milenkovic, Milos Veljkovic (Nemanja Gudelj, m.55), Strahinja Pavlovic; Andrija Zivkovic (Nemanja Radonjic, m.78), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Nemanja Maksinovic, m.68), Sasa Lukic, Filip Kostic; Dusan Tadic (Filip Djuricic, m.78), Dusan Vlahovic (Luka Jovic, m.55) and Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Switzerland: Gregor Kobel; Silvan Widmer, Manuel Akanji, Fabian Schar, Ricardo Rodríguez; Remo Freuler, Granit Xhaka; Xherdan Shaqiri (Denis Zakaria, m.69), Djibril Sow (Edimilson Fernandes, m.69), Ruben Vargas (Christian Fassnatch, m.83); and Breel Embolo (Noha Okafor, m.90).

Goals: 0-1, m.20: Xherdan Shaqiri; 1-1, m.26: Aleksandar Mitrovic; 2-1, m.35: Dusan Vlahovic. 2-2, m.44 Breel Embolo; 2-3, m.48: Remo Freuler.

Referee: Fernando Rapallini (Argentina). He showed yellow cards to Silvan Widmer, Ruben Vargas, Granit Xhaka and Fabian Schar, from Switzerland; and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Predrag Rajkovic, on the bench, Nemanja Gudelj, Aleksandr Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic and Sasa Lukic, from Serbia.

Incidents: The match on the third day of Group G of the Qatar 2022 World Cup was played at the 974 Stadium in Doha before 41,378 spectators.

see the match sheet