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XHAKA is confident of keeping calm against Sweden
If the team of Vladimir Petkovic beat Sweden in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, she will become the first Swiss team in 64 years to qualify for the quarter-finals of biggest tournament.
Although they largely ignored Russia – the double-eagle celebrations marking against Serbia – the undefeated team enjoys an impressive tournament.
Driven by skipper Stephan Lichtsteiner, driven by Valon Behrami's energy, and able to appeal to Xherdan Shaqiri's creativity, Switzerland emerged from a complicated Group E that included Brazil, tournament favorite.
They are undefeated in Russia, scored in every game and a defeat against Portugal last October is the only spot in an impressive series of results over the past two years.
Add to that the impressive goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who writes a gourmet blog when he does not play international football, and Switzerland becomes a formidable unit.
"We want more and more," said Petkovic after his team played in the last 16 games.
"We are used to doing history, we have great ambitions and the next big ambition is to beat Sweden."
The last time Switzerland reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1954, they were hosts and the 16-team tournament was a very different beast – they lost their last eight clashes against the World Cup. Austria 7-5 after being three early.
But as they seek to match or even better this projection, there is a significant cloud on the horizon for the Sweden match.
The Swiss defense has excelled so far but will be deprived of its leading defenders Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schaer against Sweden after both collected two yellow cards in the group stage.
Between them, the new boy Arsenal Lichtsteiner and Schaer have played more than 150 times for the country.
Lichtsteiner was one of three players who escaped with a fine – Shaqiri and Granite Xhaka from Arsenal were the others – after their politically motivated celebrations in the 2-1 win against Serbia.
They celebrated goals with a pro-Kosovo double-eagle gesture.
The double-eagle symbol represents the Albanian flag and is considered a symbol of defiance in Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 in a move that Serbia still refuses to recognize.
Potential substitutes for Sweden's game include another player with an Arsenal connection, Johan Djourou, and a colleague from Sommer, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Michael Lang.
Petkovic stated that he was not sorry to have chosen the pair now suspended for the last group match, but the decision to choose Lichtsteiner and Schaer against Costa Rica while they were practically assured of the qualification could be the object of a thorough examination.
Switzerland and Sweden have not met since 2002, so there is no indication on who could have the advantage on Tuesday.
Although the match of the last 16 is one of the least glamorous of the knockout phase, it offers a good opportunity to qualify for the last eight of the "weak side" of the draw, and for Switzerland to rewrite their history of the World Cup.
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