The international break has been rather eventful for the Switzerland national team, who faced the media as a group during their first press conference, wanting to clear the air following their World Cup exit and certain celebrations.
This wasn’t helped by Stéphane Henchoz, who claimed Granit Xhaka shouldn’t be one of the team’s official leaders as he didn’t ‘represent’ fans and the country, to which the Arsenal midfielder replied soon after.
Then came Vladimir Petkovic’s strange decision to leave out his star right-back and captain, Stéphane Lichtsteiner, from his first XI against Iceland.
However, clearing the air over the weekend, the Switzerland manager made it clear this move wasn’t a punishment.
He said, relayed by Le Matin: “The situation was discussed with Lichtsteiner. It was expected with him. He’ll be on the team sheet on Tuesday against England.”
Other than a little heads up for Gareth Southgate as to who his left winger might be facing, this seemingly confirms the changing of the guards in the Switzerland national team.
At 34, Lichtsteiner certainly cannot play that many games consecutively, and this appears to have been him sitting out the ‘easier’ of the two matches, as he watched his country beat Iceland 6-0 from the stands.
