No wonder Newcastle United are working overtime to wrap up a deal for Johan Manzambi. The secret, if there was such a thing, is well and truly out when it comes to the 20-year-old Freiburg forward who destroyed the Algeria defence to tee up Breel Embolo for Switzerland’s opener in an ominously comfortable victory to reach the last 16. Granit Xhaka, as any good captain would, has tried to keep a lid on soaring expectations, but doing so just got that bit tougher after Switzerland recorded a win in a World Cup knockout game for the first time since 1938.
This, then, is new territory for this iteration, though the Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, proclaimed they have been in rude health for a while. Up in the VIP seats alongside Gianni Infantino, he presumably ignored dress codes by wearing a bold red cap reminiscent of the one Donald Trump, invisible so far at this tournament, has regularly donned. Rather than the loud Make America Great Again motto, Parmelin’s hat was decorated with the words: “Switzerland great since 1291”.
By adding to his three goals earlier in the tournament by registering another assist, Manzambi, who shone despite Freiburg being comprehensively defeated by Aston Villa in the Europa League final in May, became the youngest player to reach five goal involvements at a World Cup since records began. This millennium, only Thomas Müller, with Germany in 2010, was the only player under 21 to achieve such a feat. “He is a precious player for us, a brilliant footballer and he is just improving one match after the other,” said Switzerland’s head coach, Murat Yakin. “He has so many qualities as a player … It’s just so much fun to work with him and see him perform like that. He is really evolving.”
Algeria did not heed the pre-match warning from the stadium announcer. “He’s had a great tournament, keep your eyes on him,” came the message as images of Manzambi limbering up were shown on the giant cuboid screen dangling from the roof. The same display detailed Manzambi was sixth in Fifa’s jazzy power rankings for attacking, behind a star-studded cast led by Kylian Mbappé and including Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
This game was 10 minutes old when Ruben Vargas nudged a cute pass infield to Manzambi, who promptly took charge, gladly taking over the baton a few yards inside the Algeria half. He carried the ball to the byline, toying with the Algeria right-back Aissa Mandi en route, and then, off balance, still found the composure to dig out a cross. Embolo applied the finishing touch, celebrating by pulling his cheeks apart to exhibit a goofy smile, but it was a goal tailor-made by Manzambi.
From there, Switzerland were in cruise control and they doubled their lead 48 seconds into the second half. Dan Ndoye made the finish look easy, superbly taking Mandi’s hopeful clearance on his left foot before dispatching a shot with his right into the far corner past goalkeeper Luca Zidane, who got fingertips to the strike. Yakin, greyscale quiff and thick-rim maroon glasses, emerged from the trench of his dugout to drink in the moment, passage to the next round on the horizon.
Switzerland began their tournament with a frustrating draw against Qatar, a stoppage-time equaliser making light of their bombardment, but have now racked up three successive victories, scoring eight goals and conceding just twice. Vargas was lively down the left and Ndoye a threat on the opposite flank. Manzambi was withdrawn midway through the second half, his work by then done. Defensively, Switzerland were barely troubled, Algeria failing to work goalkeeper Gregor Kobel; Houssem Aouar made a mess of the game’s first big chance after five minutes, fluffing his lines after reading Riyad Mahrez’s neat dummy, and Ibrahim Maza later prodded wide after Mahrez’s cross cannoned off Aouar. Not long after Algeria fell two goals behind, Mahrez’s first-time shot lacked conviction. The Algeria captain later confirmed his retirement from international football and will be left to rue that missed opportunity in his final game.
Switzerland should have added a third goal on 81 minutes after Denis Zakaria sent a cross into the Algeria box. But instead of beating Zidane with the goal gaping, Fabian Rieder contrived to send the ball back where it came from, allowing the Algeria goalkeeper to smother. Ultimately, it did not matter, there was no late fretting, and Switzerland can get acquainted with their British Columbia surroundings as they prepare to face either Colombia or Ghana in Vancouver on Tuesday.
Algeria’s head coach, Vladimir Petkovic, knows Switzerland better than most given he spent seven years in charge of the country, leading them at two World Cups and guiding them to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals. “In tournaments, you need a little bit of the rub of the green, to be in the right place at the right time, but Switzerland have a lot of quality and they can certainly make it through the next round,” Petkovic said. “Switzerland can compete with every team at this tournament.”
