Switzerland takes the lead, takes Serbia’s turn, turns again and qualifies in the Cup

In a balanced game, very disputed and full of goals, Switzerland started winning, took the turn, went after the tie and turned the match against Serbia.

The 3 to 2 ranked second in Group G, the same as Brazil, in the World Cup in Qatar.

With the result at stadium 974, in Doha, Switzerland (6 points) finished ahead of Serbia (1 point) and Cameroon (4 points), who beat Brazil’s reserves (6 points) in Lusail (1 to 0) . The Brazilians were ahead of the Swiss on goal difference.

Four of the five goals came in the first half. The attacking midfielder Shaqiri, the best player of the Swiss and who was on the bench in the defeat (1 to 0) to the Brazilians, opened the scoring, kicking left from inside the area. The ball deflected off Pavlovic and took away goalkeeper Milinkovic-Savic’s chance to save.

Shaqiri celebrated with his finger raised in front of his mouth, as if asking his rivals to be silent, in a probable allusion to the political issue involving Kosovo, a region that in 2008 declared itself independent from Serbia, which does not recognize it. The Swiss player’s family has roots in Kosovo.

Needing to defeat Switzerland to have a chance of not stopping at the group stage of the Cup, coach Dragan Stojkovic decided to dare to attack, and it worked provisionally.

For the first time in the World Cup, the feared strikers Mitrovic, 28, 1.89 m, and Vlahovic, 22, 1.90 m, were used together from the beginning of the game.

Athlete from Fulham (England), Mitrovic, who is the best scorer in the history of the Serbian national team (he started the match with 51 goals), was in the starting line-up against Brazil and Cameroon. Vlahovic, from Juventus (Italy), came on in the second half of his debut and was substituted against the Cameroonians.

Both scored in the first half. Mitrovic did it first, with a header, and Vlahovic hit a left kick, from inside the area – the number 18 put his index finger in front of his mouth, as if in response to Shaqiri’s previous act.

Cold, the Swiss did not seem shaken even with two absences (goalkeeper Sommer and defender Elvedi, sick) and, near the end of the stage, equalized with Embolo – his second goal in the World Cup.

And, in the second half, in a play well crafted on the right, which culminated in a surprise appearance in the area of ​​the steering wheel Freuler, Switzerland again took the lead on the scoreboard so as not to lose it again.

It is the third time in the last four Cups that Serbia, which did not qualify for the 2014, in Brazil, takes an early farewell to the competition.

Switzerland, who had already beaten the Serbs in the group stage at the 2018 World Cup, are going to the knockout rounds for the third time in the four most recent Cups – they always stopped in the round of 16.

The rival of the Swiss in the knockout stage, on Tuesday (6), is Portugal, by Cristiano Ronaldo, champion of Group H even with a defeat in the final round against South Korea.