06/18/26 06:24:00
Printable Page
06/18 18:22 CDT Switzerland coach uses hydration break to spark late goal
barrage in 4-1 World Cup win over Bosnia
Switzerland coach uses hydration break to spark late goal barrage in 4-1 World
Cup win over Bosnia
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) --- Some teams at this year's World Cup have blamed
FIFA's new hydration breaks for killing momentum.
Switzerland used the break to seize it.
Coach Murat Yakin said he timed a triple substitution of speedy players for the
second-half pause Thursday, betting that plucky Bosnia-Herzegovina couldn't
handle an abrupt change of pace in what had been a nervy, scoreless match.
Johan Manzambi and Rubn Vargas made their coach look awfully clever while they
led a spectacular barrage of goals that put the Swiss in control of the game
and atop their group.
Manzambi scored his first World Cup goal on an outstanding volley in the 74th
minute, and Switzerland erupted late for a 4-1 victory over Bosnia.
Despite controlling possession deep into the second half, Switzerland couldn't
break through against the Dragons until Yakin used the FIFA-mandated pause to
turbo-charge its attack with the 20-year-old Manzambi and the dynamic Vargas.
Both substitutes immediately altered the tempo, and both played roles in
multiple goals while Bosnia went down to 10 men.
"It was very important that after the second hydration break, we would change a
few things, because then the opponent can't react immediately," Yakin said
through an interpreter. "Maybe that was the edge we had. We brought in very
fast players, and our opponent couldn't run (with them), and it opened up gaps
on the edge. That was my strategy. I waited until the break."
Vargas scored in the 84th minute shortly after Tarik Muharemovic was sent off
for a dangerous tackle. Manzambi scored again in the 90th on a pass from
Vargas, and captain Granit Xhaka converted from the penalty spot with the final
kick of the game in stoppage time.
Switzerland opened the World Cup with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Qatar last
week, stoking concern about the team's mental state. The Swiss then struggled
to get loose from the Dragons, who were unbeaten in their last nine competitive
matches.
Backed by tens of thousands of raucous fans in the Los Angeles area, Bosnia
capably hung with Switzerland into the second half --- until the hydration
break led to a moment of brilliance from Manzambi, a 20-year-old Geneva native
who plays for German club Freiburg.
"This is probably the best moment of my career so far," Manzambi said. "We knew
we didn't start the match in the best way, but we had to be patient. We know
we're a good team, and we showed it."
Three minutes after Manzambi replaced standout winger Dan Ndoye, he jumped and
connected perfectly on Amar Memic's attempted clearing header. The volley set
off a wild celebration in the nervous Swiss sections of SoFi Stadium.
"He's a boy who learned how to play football on the streets, but on defense he
also has a lot of discipline," Yakin said. "He still needs to learn how to be
more structured, but we are making progress. We try to give him a lot of
freedom to play, and he handles it very well."
Substitute Ermin Mahmic scored in second-half injury time for Bosnia, which
still has a legitimate chance of reaching the knockout stage of only its second
World Cup. Mahmic's vicious goal in traffic salvaged some good feeling before a
decisive showdown with Qatar next week.
"Maybe our start wasn't that good, but from (first) cooling break until the
goal, we were the better team," Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said. "We had two
or three excellent chances which should have ended in a goal. ... This is the
first match we've lost in a while, and it is hurtful. It's quite painful, but
we know that if we win the next game, we have an excellent chance of going
forward in the tournament."
Four minutes after Muharemovic was sent off for taking down striker Breel
Embolo one step outside the penalty area, Embolo got the ball from Manzambi and
slipped a pass across the front to Vargas for a no-doubt goal.
Xhaka then found Vargas in deep for another pass to Manzambi, who finished with
aplomb.
Captain Edin Dzeko started and played 63 minutes for Bosnia, becoming the
fourth outfield player to start at a World Cup in his 40s --- a group joined by
Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday. Barbarez said Dzeko didn't play
in the World Cup opener last week because he wasn't fully fit.
___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup
|
