Make or break for Swiss, Serbia

DOHA. — When Serbia play Switzerland at the World Cup today, it will be a head-to-head elimination match to get into the knock- out rounds.

The match starts at 9pm (Zimbabwean time).

The European rivals seemed destined for a win- and- advance final group stage match at 974 Stadium ever since the tournament draw in April placed them in Group G with heavily favoured Brazil.

“We knew at the beginning of the tournament that the game against Serbia would be the final in this group,” Swiss captain Granit Xhaka said after a 1-0 loss to Brazil on Monday. That result sent Brazil to the round of 16 even before playing their last game against Cameroon, and left Switzerland in second place likely needing only a draw with Serbia to advance. Not that the Swiss plan on playing for a tie.

“I don’t know a single team in the world that would go on the pitch aiming for a 0-0. That’s really dangerous,” Swiss midfielder Djibril Sow said.

Still, Switzerland have a proven record of managing these situations in modern tournaments, advancing out of the group to the round of 16 at the past two World Cups and in the past two European Championships.

Serbia have not played a World Cup knock- out match since becoming an independent nation, and a relative lack of tournament experience — playing at three of the four World Cups since 2010 but no Euros — perhaps showed in Qatar.

Leading Cameroon 3-1 on Monday after dominating the play either side of half-time, the Serbians lost control and conceded back-to-back goals quickly to draw the game. —