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June 12, 2021: Division of the post between Wales and Switzerland in the second match of Group A of the European Championships. The result pleases the Azzurri who are at the top of the group by virtue of the victory over Turkey. At the Olympic Stadium in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, a match ended 1-1 with a first half at a steady pace and a more lively recovery.
Also from the point of view of the game, it was a comforting match for our national team: nothing to do with the sparkling performance of the Azzurri on their debut. Switzerland is Italy's next opponent at the Olimpico next Wednesday (the Welsh will be the Azzurri's last match in the group on Sunday 20).
A curiosity: it is the first time in a major international event that is played in a non-participating country. The stadium could fill up to 45% of the capacity, for 31 thousand spectators, but the response of the public is lower than expected.
At the disposal of Rob Page, the Wales manager in the red jersey, there is the Juventus player Ramsey, in addition to the star Bale, who has now returned to Tottenham after seven years at Real Madrid. Faces known for Italian football also among the Swiss whites coached by the Bosnian naturalized Swiss Vladimir Petković, on the Lazio bench from 2012 to 2014, with whom he won an Italian Cup. There are the Atalantino Freuler and the Torino player (ex Milan) Ricardo Rodriguez, as well as Shaqiri, a brief passage to Inter in 2015.
The teams study, then in the quarter of an hour Wales blaze with James breaking through on the left, brushstroke for Moore's great header on which Sommer flies to corner. Swiss replica in the 20 'with a heel strike by Schär which Ward opposes with his foot. Switzerland takes the field and tries with the shots of Xhaka (24 ') and Seferovic (27' and 41 '), aims to be reviewed. At 46 ', Seferovic again wastes from a good position after a combination with Embolo.
Switzerland starts strong again, Embolo protagonist: he engages Ward with a right from the edge, then on the corner he wins the physical duel with Roberts and heads the Rossocrociati ahead (49 '). Still Embolo on the 52nd hole the Welsh defense but Mbabu wasted on his suggestion. Wales tries to react with a shot from Davies raised for a corner by Akanji (60 '). But on the other front there is always Embolo active, one of his conclusions touches the upright at 66 '. However, Switzerland made the mistake of moving back the center of gravity and the reds took advantage of it: on the development of a corner, on a Morrell cross, the very high Moore found the winning header deviation and re-established the balance (74 '). At 83 'Ramsey almost reached a low Brooks cross. At 85 'the new entrant for Switzerland Gavranovic scores but in an offside position. Two minutes later,the same Swiss attacker tries it from outside the box, just wide. At 90 'Embolo with a header from a corner engages Ward in the deviation over the bottom line. The result does not change even after 5 'of rest.