A new name emerged: will a Champions League winner be Yakin’s Nati assistant?

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In just over a month, the Swiss national team will meet for the final meeting before the European Championships next summer. Besides the question of which players coach Murat Yakin will call up for the test kicks against Denmark and Ireland, there is another very important one: who will be Yakin’s assistant?

After Vincent Cavin left for the US we need a new one. So far three names have been mentioned in the media: German world champion (2014) Miroslav Klose, ex-national player Léonard Thurre and Davide Callà. The latter was brought to FC Basel as an assistant coach by Alex Frei in the summer of 2022 and has since ‘outlived’ several head coaches. Unlike Klose and Thurre, his name will probably not be off the table in the search for a suitable Yakin assistant, but according to Nau, FC Basel refuses to give Callà permission for a double mandate.

If one solution doesn’t work, others should be explored. And according to information from Blick, one of them is called Roberto Di Matteo (53). Discussions are said to have already taken place between Yakin, Di Matteo and the SFV.

Is a Champions League winner Yakin’s assistant?

The Schaffhausen native with Italian roots is one of the big names in the industry: in 1993 he was the standout figure in FC Aarau’s sensational championship title. Di Matteo subsequently had an international career as a player at Lazio and Chelsea and participated with Italy in the 1996 European Championship and the 1998 World Cup (a total of 34 international matches).

In 2008 he started coaching at the English lower division Milton Keynes Dons, before the biggest success of his career followed in 2012: in an epic final against Bayern, Di Matteo and Chelsea defeated the Munich team in a penalty shootout at their home stadium and fulfilled the wishes of former Chelsea owner Roman Abramowitsch the dream of the Champions League trophy. Further stops included Schalke 04 and West Ham United, but with moderate success. Di Matteo has been quiet since leaving West Ham in 2016.

Is there a comeback to the big stage as Yakin’s assistant? Di Matteo’s name may seem surprising at first glance, but the 53-year-old is said to have important conditions: international experience and success as a player and coach at the highest level, which would ensure his acceptance by the National stars around Xhaka, Shaqiri and Akanji. A factor that should not be underestimated when filling the assistant position.

Source : Blick