Football: Switzerland avoids ridicule against Andorra

The Tourbillon audience was not spoiled on Tuesday. Even having seen three goals, with this meager 3-0 victory for Switzerland against the very weak selection of Andorra. What will satisfy him? After two draws (against Romania and Kosovo), the national team has at least found the path to success and is very close to qualifying for Euro 2024.

But the 9,000 spectators who came to Valais (box offices closed) can hardly be satisfied with that. They have nothing to do with it, but the Swiss team has sometimes reached a degree of apathy that we did not know about, even more marked than what it demonstrated in Pristina on Saturday, during the 2- 2 against Kosovo.

However, perhaps to please Granit Xhaka and the selection executives, Murat Yakin had chosen to change his mind. For the first time since the 6-1 defeat against Portugal in the round of 16 of the last World Cup, the technician opted for a three-way defense. The system? A 3-4-3, with Vargas on the right and Steffen on the left, while Amdouni and Shaqiri surrounded Itten. The entertainment? Close to nothing. We don’t revive the ideas of yesteryear suddenly.

On the pitch, this resulted in a first period with no shots on target. Situations, certainly: Elvedi who fails to shoot at point blank range after a corner (15th), Amdouni (completely lacking in confidence in this rally) who prefers the pass to the shot (42nd) and a few long shots. The highlight? The exit to the applause of the entire Andorran Ildefons Lima stadium after 22 minutes, for what was his jubilee (at 43 years old and after having been lined up up front, while he is a central defender).

We were hitting rock bottom. The technical errors were too obvious. But it’s difficult to hide the gap over two halves, it being still too big, Andorra not having tried its luck once in the entire match. So Switzerland finally scored three times, on its only three shots on target of the match.

The first fell shortly after returning from the locker room. On a sequence involving Shaqiri and Xhaka, Itten could turn around and deceive the goalkeeper Alvarez with a small shot between the latter’s legs. The second in the 84th minute, when Xhaka adjusted the opposing goalkeeper with a low shot from outside the area. The third on a penalty from Xherdan Shaqiri in added time.