Giorgio Contini was more than an assistant for the Swiss team and Murat Yakin.
Toto Marti/Blick/freshfocus
It would be a lie not to assume that you felt a hint of excitement. Giorgio Contini at Young Boys, that’s interesting. Perhaps even, for some followers, this is a reason to reconsider YB as a candidate for the title of Swiss champion in May 2025, despite being eight points behind Lugano at the break.
Contini embodies hope. And ambition. It’s a little bit new. Two years ago, we would not necessarily have presented him like this, even if his visits to Lausanne, then Grasshopper, at least demonstrated his ability to give soul to teams destined for the bottom of the table.
What changed everything? His year 2024, as assistant to Murat Yakin in the Swiss team. It’s a rather surprising process: few coaches have gained credibility by being in the shadows. Even if Yakin did not hesitate to highlight his friend.
In fact, everyone ended up understanding that Giorgio Contini was a real asset on the path that led to the doors of the semi-finals of Euro 2024. And especially internally, at the heart of the Swiss team.
Legitimate for the group
The 50-year-old from Zurich, who succeeded Vincent Cavin, embodied a form of credibility. Particularly for the players, who saw the arrival of a coach close to what they were used to knowing. A man capable of leading sessions with a certain aplomb. Very quickly, from the camp in Spain last March, Contini appeared as a potential number one. In addition to his ability to create a bond with all the players, in particular thanks to his mastery of French.
Murat Yakin then understood that he could rely on him to reconnect with his group, with the executives he had lost. Certainly, he placed great trust in Contini. It was also expressed at the tactical level. Is it a coincidence that the very proactive approach with the ball and without the ball of the Swiss team during the Euro could have resembled what the new strong man of YB was trying to implement in his previous clubs?
After the Euro, Yakin more or less linked his contract extension to that of Contini. The announcement, a few days later, was joint. A way for the ASF to say that one did not go without the other. Even if Contini had never hidden his ambition to become number one again, if an opportunity presented itself. She arrived with YB, and the ASF logically facilitated the termination.
Who can do this well?
But she is now engaged in another reflection: who can take over the role of Contini? It will be difficult to find another number one encore, as competent as YB’s new strongman. And yet, in the balance of the Swiss team, this is perhaps what is essential on the road to the 2026 World Cup.
Do they even exist? Raphaël Wicky, free since his departure from YB, could have the profile, but he has nothing of a deputy, even less than Contini. The other possibility is to appoint a former player, who knows some of the players. Stephan Lichtsteiner, for example, could be a legitimate suitor, he who also coaches Wettswil, a Zurich 1st league team.
Another profile to consider: Alex Frei, without a club since his departure from Aarau last March. Yakin was his coach at Basel for a time, and Granit Xhaka his teammate.
We will still have to find a suitor interested in being in Yakin’s shadow. But the trajectory of Giorgio Contini can inspire.
