The match: 2-0
With an unprecedented 4-man defense, Italy struggled to show an attractive face in the game, leaving control of the ball to the Swiss. Murat Yakin’s players created the best chances of the first half. Launched in depth by Michel Aebischer, Breel Embolo lost his duel with an imperial Gianluigi Donnarumma (24th), as since the start of the tournament. PSG’s last defense failed to repel Remo Freuler’s attempt ten minutes later. Served in the area by Ruben Vargas, the Bolognese found the fault with a beautiful sequence of right foot control, left foot finish (1-0, 37th).
Just before the break, the Paris goalkeeper kept his team in the game by pushing a free kick from Fabian Rieder off the post. With only one shot in 45 minutes, the reigning European champion seemed to lack offensive inspiration.
And the second half was no better for Italy. A few seconds after the referee’s whistle, Vargas doubled the lead. Following a loss of the ball by Nicolo Fagioli on the kick-off, the Augsburg player cleared Donnarumma’s left corner with a superb right-footed curling shot (2-0, 46th). Calm in the face of the weakness of the opposing attacks, Switzerland was however saved twice by its posts, first on a harmless deviation from Fabian Schär (51st), then on an attempt by Gianluca Scamacca (74th).
The Nazionale finished the match with nine shots, but only one on target. An insufficient performance to get rid of a dominant Nati. Like Spain in 2016 and Portugal in 2021, the defending champion once again went out in the round of 16. As in 2021, Switzerland is in the quarter-finals.
31
According to Opta, Remo Freuler’s goal was scored after a sequence of 31 passes, a record for a Euro match since the competition was analyzed (1980).
The player: Ruben Vargas
Relegated to the bench during the draw against Germany (1-1), after starting in the first two matches, Ruben Vargas made a remarkable return to Murat Yakin’s eleven. Positioned in support of Breel Embolo, on the left side, the 25-year-old player scored his first goal in international competition, the 8th in 47 selections with Switzerland. Before that, he had provided Freuler with the opening goal.
