After the third defeat in a row, national coach Murat Yakin is looking for the reasons. He also draws parallels to the weak phase in the fall of last year.
The away game against Serbia saw many unfortunate figures on the Swiss side. Breel Embolo was certainly one of them. The striker, who is still waiting for his first goal this season with Monaco, hardly got into the game in Leskovac. He was unable to hold or pass the ball on and slipped several times on the pitch. He changed his footwear after 30 minutes, but things didn't really improve.
So it was fitting that he also failed from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute. "He wanted to force his luck," said Murat Yakin. Embolo had not been designated as the penalty taker, but he convinced his teammates that he was the right man for the job. "He took responsibility and apologized to the team afterwards. You can't be angry with him," said Yakin. Everyone has days like that.
The penalty save was unfortunate, but not the reason for the defeat. "We had the game under control for 40 minutes, then we put ourselves in trouble through poor tackling." The own goal shortly before the break was unnecessary, said Yakin. Until then, his team had been able to keep the action well away from their own penalty area, but then negligently conceded set-pieces. "The opponents waited cleverly and then took their opportunities with ice-cold precision."
The Swiss national team coach was reminded of the games in the fall of last year. "Our dominance in the first few minutes created a false sense of security." This was also evident with the second goal conceded, when Aleksandar Mitrovic was not put under enough pressure despite his well-known scoring qualities. "Our opponents were more aggressive in the decisive duels today. That's a shame for the effort we put in."
SDA
