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- Switzerland and Germany split 1: 1 in the second Nations League game in Basel.
- Silvan Widmer made up for Ilkay Gündogan’s lead with his first international goal.
- In the finals, Switzerland is closer to victory than the Germans.
In a time away from the Crown, this first competitive match between Switzerland and Germany since the 1966 World Cup would certainly have been accompanied by much applause. The atmosphere in empty St. Jakob Park didn’t always seem appropriate.
The match wrote some stories: Silvan Widmer’s first international goal, for example, which drew 1-1 in the 58th minute after brilliant preparatory work by Breel Embolo. The FC Basel defender, who was joined by Kevin Mbabu, used the cross in the style of a thoroughbred forward.
As a result, Switzerland came even closer to the winning goal than the Germans, whose play alternated light and shadow. A free kick from Granit Xhaka almost stopped Bernd Leno (minute 85), Rubén Vargas missed with a blatant heel trick. And in injury time, Xhaka should have been successful with a header.
Gündogan puts Germany on course
So it stayed at 1: 1, which flattered the Germans, who had initially dominated. It was Ilkay Gündogan who opened the scoring in the 14th minute. The midfielder was forgotten by the Swiss defense after defender Matthias Ginter joined the attack and relaxed.
But the national team knew how to improve and, for its part, won some equalization opportunities. Haris Seferovic failed several times from a promising position. Renato Steffen, who was served by the brilliantly featured Embolo, couldn’t beat Leno (26th). The knot finally broke in the second half with the appearance of Widmer.
Upcoming practical tests in October
The Nations League continues on October 10. Switzerland will then face Spain away from home, before also playing the second leg against Germany three days later.
