Switzerland played out a very comfortable 4-0 win this evening in Luzern, with Steven Zuber, Zeki Amdouni, Nico Elvedi and Xherdan Shaqiri striking gold for the Rossocrociati. A very ‘international friendly’ game of football with not much intensity but plenty of goals to enjoy.
Murat Yakin’s side built on an admittedly slow first-half display by adding three goals to their tally in the second half, despite showing more vulnerability to the Estonian attack in the second period.
While they may have only met expectations, it was a dominant win for the Swiss that will do their confidence a world of good ahead of their Euro 2024 opener against Hungary in just 11 days.
Yakin’s men kicked off their pre-Euro 2024 games with a comfortable victory in a friendly against Estonia at the Swissporarena.
The first real chance of the game fell to Shaqiri. The tricky dynamo saw his effort head well over the bar following a scramble in the Estonian penalty area. A largely uneventful start to the game continued, with neither team fashioning a chance of note in the opening exchanges following Shaqiri’s sky-high effort.
Zuber then found the net with a vicious right-footed strike in the 20th minute. The AEK Athens man saw his original effort blocked before winning the ball back and lashing it past Matvei Igonen and into the Estonia goal.
Following the goal, the game’s intensity dropped off, very much feeling like a friendly game of football – with Switzerland controlling most of the possession and not looking like they were in any danger of conceding to a notably weaker Estonian side.
Second half
Two minutes after the break, substitute Amdouni found the net, with the number seven securing his seventh goal in Swiss colours. The Burnley man finished well from close range following a cut-back pass from fellow substitute Rubén Vargas.
The game then fell mostly quiet again, with the next chance falling to Estonia, with Artur Pikk stinging the gloves of Yann Mvogo in the Swiss goal from range.
Switzerland then further extended their lead in the 63rd minute, with Elvedi poking home from close range, following a sumptuous delivery from Shaqiri.
Seven minutes later, Shaqiri was the next man to find the net for the men in white, this time from the penalty spot. A clumsy challenge from Markus Poom on Amdouni gave a penalty to the hosts. The original spot-kick was missed by Shaqiri, with the Chicago Fire man placing his effort at a comfortable height for Igonen.
The referee, Kyriakos Athanasiou was told by the VAR officials to order a retake, as the Estonian number one had stepped off his line before the penalty had been taken. Shaqiri made no mistake when given a second chance, going to the opposite side and sending Igonen the wrong way to make it 4-0 to Switzerland.
The game then finished in the same manner it began, with very few chances of note. Switzerland ran out 4-0 winners in a comfortable performance at home before they travel to Germany to fight for the Euros. A very strong showing overall for Murat Yakin’s team.
Amdouni came on at half-time in place of Kwadwo Duah and injected some urgency in a Swiss side that had been lacking until that point.
The Burnley man took two minutes to find the net after his introduction, and didn’t look back. Always comfortable on the ball, Amdouni put himself in a very strong light for the starting spot in Germany.
Most of the chances in the second half involved Switzerland’s number seven, and he took them well, despite only finding the net once. A very strong showing from a man going from strength to strength in recent times.