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Elvedi and Akanji were both booked against Cameroon.
Michael WegmanDeputy Head of Football
Nico Elvedi gets a yellow card against Cameroon in a duel with Choupo-Moting, Manuel Akanji is cautioned shortly before the end for complaining. Both central defenders start the Brazil game on Monday with a mortgage: if they receive a yellow card, they will be suspended against Serbia.
The big question now: what to do? Rest Akanji against Brazil? Elvedi spare? Both? Or none?
“We don’t have to count on a World Cup.”Vincent Cavin, national assistant coach
Murat Yakin’s coaching team has a brain teaser. Yakin’s assistant Vincent Cavin appears to have a tendency to run both Akanji and Elvedi against Brazil. “We’re playing a World Cup. I think we always have to give 100 percent – without calculating. If there are bans, other players will step in. That’s why we have 26 strong players in the squad.”
But nothing is decided yet. It’s quite possible that the starting grid will even be adjusted shortly before kick-off. Cavin says: «We have a small advantage. The match between Serbia and Cameroon will take place before our game. So we know the result. That could not be unimportant…»
One thing is certain: if Akanji and Elvedi defend with the handbrake on for fear of an impending suspension, there is a risk of clapping against the tricky Brazilians. “It’s definitely annoying that we’ve both already received a yellow card,” says Elvedi, “but I won’t hold back. If I have to prevent a counterattack, I will do it.”
Akanji: “Don’t try to talk to the referee anymore”
But the warning is in the back of your mind. “Of course you try not to get another one,” says Elvedi, who is supported in Doha by his family, two buddies and his girlfriend. Akanji says: “I have to go into duels normally and try to win them. But I’m definitely not trying to talk to the referee anymore. You never know how he will react.”
The Akanji/Elvedi duo is normally seeded. Fabian Schär hierarchically right behind him. However, Yakin sees the Newcastle defender more in the Akanji position, half-right, as he emphasized before the World Cup. Eray Cömert would be the nominal Elvedi replacement. But Edimilson Fernandez has also played central defender, as has Fabian Frei.
It’s also possible that Yakin even changes the system and defends against the super Brazilians with a chain of three.
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