Along with the stars of Louis Armstrong, Sylvester Stallone and Mickey Mouse, starting today, Johan Manzambi will have to be installed. At 20 years old, the young Swiss talent broke down the door and showed up in a big way at a World Cup: he entered the field in the 71st minute, unblocked it three minutes later and rounded off a great night with a double in the 90th minute. A performance worthy of an Oscar in Los Angeles.
Until their entry, Switzerland had dominated the match from start to finish. With few opportunities, but with the solvency that they always offer in the final phases. Under the masterful direction of The feeling of making the same mistakes as against Qatar, however, was in the air.
But Bosnia seemed harmless. Even more than the Qataris in the opening match. Poor background for a team that has better arguments than those it has shown in this World Cup to date. Only a couple of appearances by veteran Edin Dzeko, yesterday’s starter for Barbarez’s team, seemed to alter a match totally controlled by the Swiss.
Yakin had to make a move because his team was on its way to scratching another insufficient draw. He had to take risks and the triple substitution, twenty minutes from the end, suited him wonderfully. Especially the entry of Manzambi, who three minutes after appearing on the field hit a forceful volley to break the game. From there, massive unrest in Los Angeles.
Bosnia was left with ten due to a tackle by Muharemovic on Embolo being the last man and Switzerland smelled blood. Vargas scored the second and Manzambi, to round off a historic night, scored the 3-0. Mahmic had his moment with a beautiful volley to make up a result that still had time to assist Xhaka’s penalty goal. The brain of a Switzerland that already has a new idol deserved it. Manzambi has a star.
