Both sides went into this fixture with 3 points from their previous fixture, Italy beat Turkey 2-1 with Switzerland defeating Wales 3 – 0
The game was a very typical Italian affair, tactical and assured. That was until Shaqiri used his blistering speed to get passed Acerbi opening himself up for a shot that resulted in a corner after a great save. Shaqiri defeated Acerbi again this time with a cross from the corner, the ball passed over Acerbi’s head which allowed Arsenal’s Granit Xakha to calmly chest the ball down and get the shot off. In fairness to the Italian keeper Donnarumma came to the rescue again, only for the rebound to fall to Shaqiri who slotted home to put the Swiss one up with 35 minutes gone.
The game was about to gointo half time waiting to hit another gear, until Italy recieved a freekick on the edge of the area. Insihne looked to step up and add to his goal (It)tally for the tournament. A sweetly struck freekick resulted in the ball just going over the crossbar. Italy thought the game must have been ready for half time, a thought process which allowed the Swiss to capitalize. Steffen made a blistering run passed Florenzi to set up an eager Breel Embolo who controlled the ball with his left and finished it with his right. the resulting Worm celebration proved Embolo to be more versatile then a Swiss army knife.
Italy went down the tunnels distraught with the possibility of scoring 3 goals against a strong Swiss defence looking bleak. The game went back to being a tactically astute game before Italy reignited it by sparking a glimmer of hope. El Sharrawey assisted Insigne who still had a bit of work to do, to put Italy with a shot of winning the game with 25 minutes to go.
It only took four minutes for all hopes to be dashed as that man again Breel Embolo was on hand to score after brilliantly linking up with Steffen again. Insigne kept trying for his Italian compatriots and almost scored to make the final few minutes interested, but unfortunately it was not to be.
Speaking after the game Italian manager Mick Gavin said ” He ( Matteuz) is very good. Turkey and Switzerland will be very interesting”
Italy will be no doubt hoping for a Switzerland win, and not just because they share the Alps, no a victory for both Switzerland and Italy, will see the Italians definitely going thru to the next stage instead of waiting for the round of games to finish to see if they place in the top four of the third placed teams.
