The Nottingham Forest outcast who inspired a famous Euros win

Paul Fennessy THERE IS more football on TV than ever, but one of the welcome aspects of major tournaments is that they can make heroes out of players who weren’t exactly household names beforehand.And this time around, Switzerland are the team who are surprising many and overachieving to a degree.

Freuler has been involved in three of their seven goals at the tournament so far, yet people who are not big fans of the Swiss national team or Serie A may not be familiar with the name. Perhaps partially affected by the high turnover and instability at the newly promoted English club, Freuler struggled to make a substantial impact.Last season, he recovered well from this setback, making 32 appearances on loan at Bologna, who finished an impressive fifth in Serie A, above Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina, and just seven points off AC Milan in second.That said, Freuler’s ascent to the top level has been unconventional.

Yet by Euro 2020, he had nailed down a starting spot and played in all five of their matches including the shock round-of-16 win against France. While a desperate Italy team in disarray made six changes going into this afternoon’s crucial match, the Swiss played like a well-oiled machine — and the contrast between the two in terms of organisation was conspicuous.

They have not fared much better at the Euros either — 2020 was the first time they made it as far as the quarter-finals.

Luciano Spalletti Round Of 16 Talking Point Italy Switzerland

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