We’re walking on eggshells! To suggest that Yann Sommer is perhaps not the best goalkeeper of the Nati is blasphemous as if we could have thought that Wawrinka was stronger than Federer…
Guilty on Sunday in Frankfurt against Germany on a goal that was disallowed by VAR, Yann Sommer has not made a great impression since the start of this Euro. Was he really irreproachable on the reduction of the score against Hungary during the first match? Director of the national teams, Pierluigi Tami does not see why doubt could creep in. “Yann is up to the event,” he affirms. “There is no debate. If you look closely at the disallowed goal of the Germans, you will see how treacherous the rebound on the shot could have been.”
Performances too “neutral”
Pierluigi Tami is perfectly in his role, that of the protective angel of the goalkeeper who will remain in the collective memory as the one who deflected Kylian Mbappé’s penalty during the penalty shootout in the round of 16 against France in 2021 and the one who managed 19 clean sheets this season in Serie A with Inter Milan. However, this question, which seems so incongruous, cannot be dismissed out of hand. In the jersey of the Swiss team, Yann Sommer has not really been convincing for several months.
The World Cup in Qatar in 2022 did not leave him with lasting memories. Hit in the ankle in mid-October, he had to race against time to compete. Excellent against Brazil despite the 1-0 defeat, he had to fall ill and give up his place to Gregor Kobel for the match against Serbia before taking it back for the disastrous round of 16 against Portugal where his responsibility seems to be involved in the opening from the score of Gonçalo Ramos.
In 2023, he was unable to stem the impoverishment of the Swiss team’s play with performances that were far too “neutral”, to remain politically correct, during the 2-2 against Romania on June 19 in Lucerne and that against Kosovo on September 9 in Pristina. And at the same time, Gregor Kobel, finalist in the Champions League this season with Dortmund, is pawing impatiently on the substitutes’ bench with the fear that his time will never come.
The goalkeepers’ match
Yann Sommer undoubtedly measures the weight of Saturday’s meeting in Berlin better than anyone. This round of 16 Switzerland – Italy will also be the goalkeepers’ match. Facing Gianluigi Donnarumma, sparkling since the start of the tournament, Yann Sommer knows what he must do. Finding the state of grace that he experienced on this famous June 28, 2021 in Bucharest against France to signify that the Italian champion that he is has nothing to envy of the best Italian goalkeeper.
Without a great Yann Sommer, Switzerland will not win this round of 16. In Berlin, the native of Morges is up against the wall. He has no right to disappoint. Not now. Not after everything he’s done.
This article was published automatically. Source: ats
