The historical background of Balkan conflict had seen the game described as a grudge match for many of the players involved and was also reflected in Russian fans’ support for Serbia. Walking to the ground I had heard ‘сербия, россия – братья навсегда!’ ‘Serbia, Russia – brothers forever!’ As the game started Serbia threatened to overwhelm Switzerland as chants of ‘сербия, россия’, later responded to with more openly militaristic English language chants of ‘Serbia, lost the war’, provided them with an atmosphere to give them what felt like a home side’s advantage.
Nemanja Matic provided composure in possession to accompany the intense pressure he provided with fellow midfielders Luka Milivojevic, who made some well-timed tackles, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who frequently became an auxiliary forward, and Switzerland struggled to get out of their own half. Dusan Tadic had assisted many of Serbia’s goals in qualifying and although he received the ball on few occasions, when he did it was often high up the pitch on the right flank, and he combined with powerful striker Alexandar Mitrovic. He first worked some space to lay the ball back to right-back Branislav Ivanovic who delivered a dangerous cross from which Mitrovic’s header back across goal forced an excellent save from Yann Sommer. Moments later Tadic himself checked back onto his favoured left foot and chipped a cross from which Mitrovic again won an aerial duel well into the Swiss penalty area and directed a header to the far post to give his side the lead.
Switzerland were unable to sustain attacks as they had tried to pass the ball through midfield to Xherdan Shaqiri, whose every touch was met with boos. I had been told in the queue before the game that this Swiss side was the best in recent memory, and many of the players had won international youth competitions together, and they showed self-belief and composure to grow into the game after the tempo began to drop after Serbia’s fine start. Centre-back Fabian Schar and midfielder Granit Xhaka took responsibility on the ball and passed neatly through the lines to find the increasingly influential Shaqiri as he drifted into midfield from the right flank, while fellow midfielder Blerim Dzemaili, right-back Stephan Lichsteiner, and Steven Zuber on the left flank showed great energy through their frequent runs to offer space to others.
Left-back Ricardo Rodriguez chose his moments to advance forward into dangerous crosses with good effect, while Valon Behrami covered a lot of ground and made sure he was around to cover others when they advanced forward. Yann Sommer showed great bravery in goal to pass the ball out from defence through Manuel Akanji and Schar as his side began to enjoy more possession. Serbia’s three midfielders were all given yellow cards as their attempts to win the ball back became more speculative.
Forward Haris Seferovic, who stayed down after a heavy challenge in the first half, went off at half time for Mario Gavranovic, and shortly after the interval Switzerland equalised. Xhaka was frequently required to retain the ball under pressure, and this time after evading challenges from opponents closing him down, he instigated an attack which ended with his powerful strike returning a hurried clearance beyond the Serbia goalkeeper’s reach. He celebrated with the Switzerland away fans and the ‘double-eagle’ gesture recalling the two-headed eagle of the Albania flag, and along with his team appeared to be satisifed with a draw as they became less enterprising as the match went on.
Shaqiri however continued to make use of the freedom he was given to attack, and could be justified in raising his wage demands in negotiations with clubs willing to meet Stoke’s bargain £12million buyout clause. He combined a performance characterised by consistent effort and neat technique to combine with teammates in tight spaces with moments of ambition, one such curling long shot grazing the corner of the goal. Serbia began to push forward later on in the match in search of a winning goal to leave them less dependent on points against Brazil – one of their fans I spoke to believed they lack the pace to threaten on the counter-attack in such a match. When they did so they left more space for their centre-backs to defend, and Dusko Tosic’s failure to intercept a through ball allowed Shaqiri to collect the ball on the left of the halfway line before showing great pace and composure so late in the match to run through on goal and roll a calm finish to the left of the goalkeeper and into the corner of the net.
He was booked after removing his shirt in a celebration again, controversially now the goal would be decisive, featuring the ‘double eagle’, and drinks were thrown from the crowd in frustration as dozens began to leave the ground in despair. Nevertheless, the friendly atmosphere created by cheerful fans of each side in national dress before the game seemed preserved afterwards, as the Swiss fans celebrated with bright flags and chants of ‘Schweizer Nati’ untroubled.
The Russian stewards have appeared well organised to prevent any problems if called upon – one fan I saw posing for selfies covering his face with a black cloth with a snarling dog on it (I could not identify the affiliation) was calmly dissuaded from wearing it by a steward, and the boisterous Australian fans conducting a crowd from a high seat after their draw against Denmark were neatly contained as other fans were directed out – but the atmosphere justifies the belief that this World Cup can be a festival in which football can be the winner.
arthurvirgo 