Akanji and Sommer in the team meeting: National stars provide moving scenes for the U21s

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Lost two of three group matches, conceded the most goals, had the worst goal difference – and yet the Swiss U21 national team is in the quarter-finals. Crazy!

The tournament rules allow: Since if three teams have the same number of points, the result against the fourth team in the group is excluded from the ranking, our young stars could have lost 1:10 against France on Wednesday instead of “only” 1: 4. Norway’s 1-0 win over Italy in the parallel match was exactly the result Patrick Framework’s team needed. In a direct comparison with Italy and Norway, the Swiss perform best thanks to the most goals (4/3/2).

Compensation in case of theft

For the coach it is clear: «The team deserves it. She delivered top performances against Italy in the second half and against France for 60 minutes, even dominating at times. The two goals against Italy have now paid off. But of course: we were lucky this time with the right result in the other game on our side. » Unlike the referees, who wrongly decided against Italy and France in all criminal cases against the Swiss.

Perhaps it is also the “myth of June 28” that miraculously brought the Swiss into the knockout phase: on this date in 2021, the A-Nati qualified for a quarter-final of the European Championship for the first time. In Romania. Against France. Almost eerie the parallels that exactly two years later on the day the U21s manage to do the same: against the same opponent, in the same country.

Summer, Akanji and Co. motivation with video messages

The heroes of the 2021 A-Nati also contributed to this: Yann Sommer, Manuel Akanji, Fabian Schär, Steven Zuber, Ricardo Roriguez and Renato Steffen. With the exception of Steffen, everyone was on the pitch during the historic European Championship coup against France – and two years later they suddenly turned up at the U21 national team meeting. With holiday greetings, they motivate their successors for their decisive group match against “Les Bleus”.

Coach Frame incorporated the selfie videos into the pre-game team meeting, garnished with the legendary scenes of the 1:3 to 3:3 catch-up race and the penalty shoot-out. “It’s great that the A-Nati is so excited for us,” says Frame, talking about moving moments in the pre-match preparation.

Quarterfinals evoke both positive and negative memories

After the happy progress, the U21 stars had to go back to the hotel, sleep, pack their bags. The plane departs for Bucharest on Thursday with a two-hour delay. Swiss football has fond memories of the city: in 2021, the quarter-final coup was staged here.

The memories of the quarter-final opponents of the U21s are less good: Spain. Two years ago, “La Furia Roja” marked the end of the line for the A-Nati after a dramatic penalty shootout.

Source : Blick