Denise Zacharias has come a long way to hear what Jan Somer has to say. “His knee injury was serious. I was really scared of him, ”admits the goalkeeper who caused his teammate’s misfortune on March 7, 2020, with Manchengladbach’s 2-1 defeat to Dortmund.

It took Geneva a year and a half to get back to its best. “I dragged this wound for months and he slipped. At Euro, I still couldn’t play without a second thought. I went on vacation before Kovid was affected. This forced break did me the greatest good. When I resumed, I had no pain, no more worries. “

After a “laziness” against Greece on September 1, the screen literally broke four days later against Italy. Presented hours later, Geneva was able to increase the Swiss team’s play with his advances. “It reminds me of Patrick Vieira, and Yann Somer slips.

Replacement Xaka

The scorer, Denis Zacharia, has now completely “launched” on September 25, with a 1-0 win over Dortmund and the decisive pass last Saturday in Wolfsburg. In Geneva on Saturday against Northern Ireland, he intends to justify the confidence of Murat Yak, who delivered a highly lauded speech at a press conference last Friday. The new manager believes he has the potential to establish himself in the absence of Granit Shaq as the team boss to end this campaign in the preliminary round of the 2022 World Cup.

“We have a team that is capable of winning every game they play,” Running said. We need to win the four who come directly to qualify for the finals in Qatar. We have players to do that. Why didn’t we get a chance against Italy in Rome on November 12? I’m sure we should win the first match in Basel!

At 24, Denise Zachariah is eager to make up for lost time. This Euro 2021 in particular presents him with mixed memories. Geneven, pleased with his historic collective performance in the quarter-finals, will not forget that he has only been placed once in five matches to make up for the absence of Granit Xhaka, who was suspended in the quarter-finals against Spain. . “I’m not going to hide it. I had b …. he agrees when leaving the euro. I had to start a conversation with Vladimir Petkovic to find out the reasons for his choice …”

Le Haland de Mönchengladbach

Prior to his injury, he had been honored by some of the biggest clubs in Europe. But Denis Zacharias, who made the transfer list a year after his contract expired this summer, has not generated the same interest. Today, his return to the forefront puts him in an “ideal” position. Like Kylian Mbabane at PSG, he will be able to interact freely with the club of his choice next year, but Borussia Manchengladbach wants to start negotiations to extend my contract, ”he said.

“Denis is our Holland,” Borussia Sporting Director Max Eberl said in a column called “Build” this week to underline the weight of Geneva on his team. In practice he did not play for a year. Today, his performances speak for themselves. He will not score 30 goals like Holland, but he is as important to us at Gladbach as he is at Norwegian Dortmund.

It’s hard to see how Borussia can compete with Premier League clubs that do not hesitate to pull out big guns to secure the service of the half – capable of constantly penetrating. The half hour given against Italy must have marked many minds. “Even though it was true that Murat Yakin did not start after my match against Greece, I was angry to be a substitute,” he said.

This perceived anger nourishes him. This is the face of a player who is called into an extraordinary future.

Laurent Ducret, ATS