BERLIN: Switzerland knocked reigning champions Italy out of Euro 2024 after a stunning 2-0 victory on Saturday to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in their history.
Murat Yakin’s extremely well-drilled team beat the two-time winners in the last 16 clashes in Berlin and will face either England or Slovakia in the next round.
Ruben Vargas passed the ball to Remo Freuler in the 37th minute and then converted brilliantly himself early in the second half to deservedly double Switzerland’s lead.
A transformed Italy team, short on stars and missing many of the key figures who led it to victory at Euro 2020, did not respond much to Switzerland’s energetic display.
Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, who arrived at the Euros after an incredible season with German champions Bayer Leverkusen, was pulling the strings and the Swiss rarely seemed willing to relinquish the lead.
Italy coach Luciano Spalletti sacked Jorginho after his troubling performances in the group stage, introducing Nicolo Fagioli as a defensive midfielder amid as many as six changes that failed to revitalize the Azzurri.
The 23-year-old was making his first appearance in a major tournament match after missing most of the season at Juventus following a seven-month ban for gambling at football matches.
Italy survived the first phase thanks to Mattia Zaccagni’s last-gasp effort in a 1-1 draw with Croatia, and Spalletti said his team had no choice but to improve in the knockout rounds.
But it was the Swiss who grew in confidence and put in their best performance to date, making a brilliant start to the season at the Olympiastadion in sweltering Berlin, where a far more impressive Italian side had won the 2006 World Cup.
Former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, now head of the Italian delegation, regaled the team with stories from that triumph, but it failed to inspire a convincing performance – apart from his modern-day counterpart, Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper, a key player in Italy’s victory over Euro 2020, made a brilliant save in the first half, preventing Breel Embolo’s shot when the Swiss gave him his first real chance by playing the ball into the penalty area.
Donnarumma failed to prevent Freuler from taking the Swiss lead in the 37th minute when the midfielder controlled Vargas’ low cross and fired just inside the near post.
The Swiss had possession for over a minute, making 33 passes, before Freuler, who plays for Serie A side Bologna, made the decisive move.
Donnarumma made a great save and Fabian Rieder’s free kick hit the post before the break. The Swiss were trying to match their best Euro performance and advance to the quarter-finals.
Hosts Germany needed a late equalizer to avoid defeat to the Swiss in the group stage, while at the previous European Championships they had eliminated much-favoured France in the round of 16, so Italy can’t say they weren’t warned.
Spalletti found Stephan El Shaarawy in stoppage time for Zaccagni, but Italy gave the ball away from the break and Switzerland doubled their lead just 27 seconds into the second period.
Augsburg midfielder Vargas, who started the game in place of the suspended Silvan Widmer, but on the left side of the attack, broke into the penalty area and phenomenally curled the ball over Donnarumma.
The closest Italy came to scoring was in the first hour when Swiss defender Fabian Schar misjudged the header and hit the frame of his own goal.
Substitute Mateo Retegui had Italy’s first shot on target as the clock ticked down and the almost invisible Gianluca Scamacca hit the post from close range but appeared to be offside.
In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the teams drew two matches and the Azzurri failed to qualify for the tournament. However, in Germany they improved their result with their first victory over Italy since 1993, after 11 matches without a win.
