Swiss roll into the knockouts as Powercube turns on and Xhaka grabs…the headlines
Date published: Friday 2nd December 2022 10:02 - Matthew Stead
Granit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka has a new party trick and it really is pretty effective. Switzerland are through the knockouts over Serbia and Mark Clattenburg would be proud.
This World Cup has already witnessed some remarkable moments but no accomplishment can match that of Fernando Rapallini. He achieved the impossible. He navigated the tightrope. He doused fires, kept the narrative in check and allowed this pressure cooker to simmer and steam without ever boiling over.
There were 11 yellow cards, including one for unused Serbia substitute Predrag Rajkovic, who will head home from Qatar with more bookings than minutes. Six of those cautions were handed out from the 80th minute onwards and well into around 10 minutes of tetchy, irascible, high-stakes stoppage-time. The lead traded hands three times through five different scorers and only once did one of the benches spill out onto the pitch.
Switzerland’s victory over Serbia was a phenomenal way to round off a spectacular World Cup group stage.
A few hours before the final round of games before the knockouts were played, the televised picks for the FA Cup third round were announced. Half of the six ties are all-Premier League, with Sheffield Wednesday, Cardiff and Oxford facing top-flight sides in the other games.
Perhaps it should have been no surprise that ITV chose to hand the platform of their main channel to Cameroon’s match against a much-changed Brazil.
Those who tuned in to the more meaningless and far less charged game in Group G were eventually treated to a surprise win and red card-inducing celebration from Vincent Aboubakar, who packed an incredible degree of cult vibes into his two goals at the finals. Never before has a player been so willingly sent off by such an apologetic official.
The Cameroon victory also meant that England were the best performers in a World Cup group stage for the first time in history, which is more than enough to make you wonder what they could achieve if Gareth Southgate was either sacked mid-tournament or decided to release the handbrake.
But stowed away on one of the supplementary channels, Serbia and Switzerland played out a thrilling rollercoaster of a game which swung qualification back and forth against a heated political and historic backdrop.
Switzerland started the evening in control of the situation and were eager to prove as such, becoming the first team on record to have three or more shots in the first minute of a World Cup game.
Serbia soon settled and Andrija Zivkovic cut inside from the right to rattle a thunderous effort against the post, much to the presumed approval of Andros Townsend on co-commentary.
Then came the goals: four shared equally in 24 minutes before half-time, the first occasion since England versus Argentina at World Cup ’98 that two teams have scored more than once each in the first half of a match at the finals.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s effort was deflected in and celebrated ordinarily, much to the relief of the watchful Rapallini. Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised with a stunning glancing header and Dusan Vlahovic’s excellent temporarily put Serbia through. Breel Embolo’s well-worked goal pegged them back, however, and they never truly recovered.
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