The Swiss U21 national team faces the final match of the qualifying round of EM 2023, and (almost) everything is in their hands.
The Swiss junior national team already needs luck: a 1-0 victory in the final qualifier against Bulgaria was the result of Fabian Ryder’s random goal – 3 points important and keeping the team in the race for the spot. 2023 European Championships in Romania and Georgia.
Meanwhile, Switzerland needed a lot of (foreign) luck to slip away from their direct rival, the Netherlands football dwarf Gibraltar (goal difference: 0:32). However, on Tuesday evening, “Orange” regained the lead (+1 points) without giving up a clear 6-0 lead over Switzerland.
Various situations before the “final game”
Before the final round, one thing is clear: if Switzerland wins against Moldova (Wednesday) and loses to the Netherlands in Wales (Saturday), the Swiss group will win in the final round.
But, as expected, things would get more complicated if the Dutch dominated the island. The top 9 runners-up also qualify directly for the final round. Therefore, the starting point is:
- If Switzerland wins against Moldova, they have 2 opponents left: Ukraine need to win their last two group games, and +6 against France (games against Gibraltar and Armenia in the vs. group are not counted for this calculation). In the final matches against Scotland and Turkey, Denmark need to score 6 points and improve their goal difference (+5).
- If Switzerland ends in a draw and scores 23 points, they should expect Ukraine and Denmark to slip.
- If Switzerland does not get any points, direct qualification position is practically not available, because in addition to Ukraine and Denmark, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Finland are also possible. Coach Mauro Lustrinelli’s team could play in the playoffs against another group runner-up for a European Championship ticket.
At the Swiss camp, they are not worried about different starting positions and they want to play for a win against Moldova on Wednesday. “This is another last game and we want to be the eighth winner of this campaign,” Lustrinelli said.
They went to Switzerland 3-0 in the first quarter at home. Defender Marco Birch reveals the recipe: “Moldova is a defensive opponent who allows us to hold the ball, so we have to use the space and show the required efficiency up front.
Really very simple. Maybe the Swiss youth can rely on a little luck again.
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