Switzerland vs Italy Preview: Old friends meet very cordially, Italy is undefeated in 21 years

Brother Bao loves football

2024-06-28 23:06

In the early morning of June 30, the European Cup will usher in the first 1/8 finals, and the Swiss team will face the Italian team. Italy is a traditional powerhouse in European football, but do you know which team has played the most against Italy? That's right, it's the Swiss team, the two teams have met a total of 61 times in history, and the Italian team has the absolute upper hand with 29 wins, 24 draws and 8 losses. Since losing 1-0 to Switzerland in 1993 in World Cup qualifying, Italy have gone unbeaten in 11 meetings with Switzerland in the 21 years since then, winning five and drawing six. So, with old friends meeting each other so cordially, can the Italian team continue this unbeaten run?

Let's take a look at the two teams' paths to qualification for this European Championship. The Swiss team is ranked 19th in the world, with a total value of 282 million euros, and finished second in Group A with 1 win and 2 draws in the group stage. Switzerland beat Hungary 3-1 in the first round of the group stage, drew 1-1 with Scotland in the second round and drew 1-1 with hosts Germany in the final round. A total of 5 goals were scored and 3 goals conceded in the 3 group games, second only to Germany and Austria in terms of goals, and the team's overall performance was basically in line with expectations.

The Italian team is ranked 10th in the world, with a total value of 706 million euros, and finished second in Group B with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in the group stage. Italy defeated Albania 2-1 in the first group stage, beating the opponent by only one goal; lost 0:1 to Spain in the second game, although he only lost one goal, but from the perspective of the situation on the field, it was a complete defeat; The final game relied on Zaccagni's goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time to draw 1:1 with Croatia, and if it weren't for this goal, Italy would have finished third in the group with three points and missed the promotion. Scored three goals and conceded three goals in three group games, and overall, the Italian team performed as before, stumbling all the way to the finals.

Switzerland and Italy are not only neighbors on the border, Milan to Geneva is only 318 kilometers, to Zurich is only 282 kilometers, Turin to Geneva is only 270 kilometers, the football ties between the two teams are even closer: Switzerland has many players in Serie A or Serie B to play, Serie A teams often loan the team's young people to Swiss clubs for training, Inter Milan clubs are often arranged in Lugano, Switzerland before each season. Pre-season warm-up matches against the local Lugano team have become a tradition for Inter.

Six of Switzerland's 26 players currently play in Serie A: Inter's Sommer, AC Milan's Okafor, Bologna's Ndoye, Freuler, Ebecher and Torino's Rodriguez. In addition, Shaqiri has played for Inter Milan, Denis Zakaria has also played for Juventus and Widmer has also played for Udinese.

Switzerland are expected to field 3,421 in the match against Italy, with goalkeeper Sommer (Inter), defenders Scher (Newcastle), Akanji (Manchester City) and Rodriguez (Torino), midfielders Steueu (Stuttgart), Freuler (Bologna), Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen) and Ebecher (Bologna), and fronts Vargas (Augsburg), Ndoye (Bologna) and Dua (Ludogorets), five of whom play in Serie A. Compared to the group stage, Widmer is suspended due to accumulated yellow cards and will not be able to play in this game.

Italy are expected to line up in a 433 formation, with goalkeeper Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), defenders Dimarco (Inter), Bastoni (Inter), Gianluca Mancini (Roma) and Di Lorenzo (Napoli), midfielders Barella (Inter), Jorginho (Arsenal) and Frattesi (Inter), forwards Zaccagni (Lazio), Scamacca (Atalanta) and Chiesa Junior (Juventus), and the main central defender Calafioli in the group stage are also suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. One of the highlights of the game will be Sommer and his four Inter team-mates, Dimarco, Bastoni, Barella and Frattesi, who will each be on the pitch.

Aside from the relatively long historical head-to-head record of the two teams, the Swiss team and Italy have met in the last 6 times, with a record of 5 draws and 1 loss, of which the only time that the winner was the 3-0 victory over Switzerland in the group stage of the last European Championship. He believes that Italy will be able to extend their 21-year unbeaten run against Switzerland, and it is even possible that the winner will be decided on penalties.

Note: The picture comes from the Internet.

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