Clear friendly victory against the USA

(sda) After the 4-2 win against Mexico, Switzerland also beat the USA. Coach Murat Yakin's team won 4-0 in Nashville, with 19-year-old Johan Manzambi shining.

In his first international match, in which he started, Manzambi showed why he's considered one of the revelations of the past season. The attacking player for Bundesliga club Freiburg impressed on the right flank with his ball control and attacking spirit. In the 23rd minute, he moved into the penalty area, easily circumvented his opponent, and passed to Michel Aebischer, who simply had to put his foot out.

Thirteen minutes later, the Geneva native, who joined Freiburg from Servette in 2023, added another. He took the ball onto his left foot in the center and fired it under the bar from the edge of the penalty area. Manzambi thus became the 16th player to make his debut for the national team as an under-20 player. An impressive starting debut.

However, the two goals Manzambi was involved in in the first half were only half the story. The Swiss national team outplayed the Americans and went into the break with a 4-0 lead. They had last achieved this feat seven years earlier in a friendly against Panama.

The halftime result raised eyebrows: Was Switzerland, ranked 20th in the world, really playing against the world number 16?

The USA, which will play its first match at the Gold Cup, the North and Central American equivalent of the European Championship, four days later, did not field its best team. Key players like captain Christian Pulisic were missing from the squad, and coach Mauricio Pochettino also tested several new players. He paid dearly for these experiments; his team was sent into the break with boos from the home crowd.

Pochettino therefore made five substitutions at halftime. These only partially had the desired effect. While the Americans didn't concede any more goals, this was partly due to the Swiss, who were no longer playing with such intensity. However, the Americans failed to score the consolation goal they had hoped for. This meant that Swiss national goalkeeper Gregor Kobel kept his first clean sheet in his 13th international match.

Murat Yakin, on the other hand, once again relied primarily on his regular players. Only in midfield, where Remo Freuler normally plays alongside Granit Xhaka, did the Swiss national team coach give preference to Ardon Jashari. The second starter also responded with a solid performance, including being at the origin of Dan Ndoye's opening goal and providing the pass to Manzambi, who scored the 4-0 goal.

Even though the Swiss didn't encounter much resistance from their friendly opponents during their tour of the USA, it can still be considered a success. Now they have a three-month break before things get serious again. Switzerland will open their World Cup qualifying campaign with two home matches in Basel on September 5 (against Kosovo) and 8 (against Slovenia). They will play away in Sweden and Slovenia in October, and the group stage will conclude in November. The first-place team will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup finals, while the runner-up will advance to a playoff tournament.