GROUP A
Switzerland 0-2 Turkey
Eamonn Foster
Baku Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan
Sunday 21st June
Heading into today’s clash in Baku, Switzerland and Turkey- but especially Turkey, having rallied to gain what could be a crucial point against Wales on Wednesday- had good reason to be anxious that over in Rome at the same time Italy and Wales might simply go through the motions and play out a draw. Italy coach Roberto Mancini had laughed off such suggestions, insisting Italy were determined to beat Wales and top Group A. Nonetheless, it did not take an Albert Einstein to see that a draw in Rome would be enough to see both Wales and Italy march on to the knockout rounds and as is often the case actions speak louder than words and as word came through before kickoff that Mancini had changed eight of the starting eleven that disposed of Switzerland on Wednesday, those in Baku would have been entitled to a tinge of resentment towards circumstance- and Mancini. There will, of course, be room in the knockouts for the four best third-place finishers- are you still following?- but these cannot be fully known until all groups have concluded.
Nonetheless, by seeing off this underwhelming Swiss side and finishing in third place on four points, Turkey have good reason to be optimistic that four points should be enough to see them join Wales and Italy in the knockouts. Should they be so fortunate, they will be in either Bilbao or Bucharest in a few days’ time.
This afternoon in the soaring Baku heat, it was clear from the outset that only Turkey had designs on winning this contest. One had to feel sorry for the eight thousand or so Swiss fans who had bothered to make their way almost 5000km to watch what unfortunately turned out to be such a drab performance from Switzerland.
Granit Xhaka will be at the receiving end of much of the criticism- and understandably so. Having endured such a torrid season with Arsenal, which involved him being jeered off by much of the Arsenal home crowd and subsequently being humiliatingly stripped of the captaincy, to much public comment, you would think he should be spared more criticism. And I would feel inclined to agree and cut him slack if it were not for all the testosterone-charged posturing as the hardman midfield general so often undone by the brainless sloppy passes, the aimless shots from distance and the near-constant brainless and aimless squaring-up to opponents. True, there were flashes in the opening match against Wales where he looked every bit the top-level Premier League midfielder he is meant to be, but there is just not enough end product. Here, he quickly opted for aggression over composure and lunged into a tackle on Hagan Çalhanoğlu just three minutes in and was lucky to escape a card. However, if the aim was to unsettle the Turks it only had the opposite effect, who spent the next five minutes barely allowing the Swiss a touch.
To give Xhaka a break, though, there have been others who have failed to live up to expectations. Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri will also be disappointed with what he has offered. The stocky little forward, who benefitted from five consecutive starts in Liverpool’s final five matches, appeared well-prepared to come into this tournament, injury-free and in decent form, to light up Swiss matches with his rather unique style but this has not materialized. Like Xhaka he had moments against Wales but seemed uncharacteristically afraid of going for goal. Elsewhere, captain Stephan Lichtsteiner has seen better, more mobile times in defence and Ricardo Rodriguez’s lack of playing time at club-level this past couple of seasons really showed on more than one occasion.
In contrast, Turkey played with unity, energy and a clear plan. Wherever possible they got the ball down the flanks, particularly using Kenan Karaman on the left against Lichtsteiner. Whilst Everton’ Cenk Tosun is no doubt missed up front for the Turks, having injured his cruciate ligament in March, the older, wilier journeyman striker Burak Yilmaz has very much held his own whilst holding the line. Whilst he may be less mobile than Tosun, he shares the powerful build and to have him playing centrally up top- a handful for any centre-back- works well for this Turkish side and opens up spaces for their five-man midfield.
It was Çalhanoğlu, whose stunning curling free-kick drew Turkey level in the final moments against Wales, who helped his side out with the opening goal today. Whilst today’s goal was nowhere near as eye-catching as that free-kick, it was still a vital one to send the Turks on towards the three points. The goal came when he was the quickest to react on the edge of the box and drive the ball under a few bodies when the ball finally emerged from a gloriously unpolished goalmouth scramble. Advantage to Turkey and it was clear the Swiss had little response.
Nonetheless, in each of these games there have been spells of a slick Swiss side but they have all been all too brief. Borussia Munchengladback’s Denis Zakaria, however, constantly showed the kind of energy and effort from midfield that would be welcome in close to any side in this tournament- especially in this heat. But, of course, for all the hard running, if you do not score goals you can have very little hope of progressing to the knockouts in any tournament.
But to say the Swiss have not found the net in this tournament would not technically be true, given that they had one goal chalked off for a narrow offside after VAR review against Wales and had another one today. Whilst the disallowed goal against Wales was understandably met with frustration- it was an extremely tight call- it was a surprise that VAR was even deemed necessary today after Manuel Akanji’s blatant barge on goalkeeper allowed Rodriguez to head home from a corner shortly before half-time.
The second half, saw the Swiss fade even further as Turkey maintained control. At the heart of the Turkish defence, Çağlar Söyüncü showed no interest in allowing the Swiss to advance into the Turkish back third, whilst Fehmi Günok dealt with any rare Swiss shots with complete ease.
Just moments before Turkey made it 2-0, word came through to Baku that Italy had missed a penalty against Wales. Had Italy scored they would have been leading 1-0 which would have meant Wales falling to third and, as things stood, lifting Turkey to second. Cue raised eyebrows in the stands in Baku and more suspicions that Wales and Italy might have agreed to draw. The Turkish side, though, knowing events in Rome were out of their hands, took control of what they could and put the game well and truly to bed in the 86th minute when Karaman once again led a Turkish attack by bursting past Lichtsteiner and advancing on goal before squaring to Emre Ünal for an easy finish. The young forward Ünal, who had replaced the exhausted and impressive Yilmaz up front, was ecstatic and Turkey enjoyed the rewards for an impressive and dominant performance. Switzerland, meanwhile, condemned to elimination and a long flight home, looked around for answers.
Man of the Match: Kenan Karaman