Switzerland clawed their way back into a 1-1 draw with Romania thanks to Admir Mehmedi’s half-volley and are in a good position to progress.
These two sides had history, as Switzerland missed out on Euro ’92 thanks to Romania, but beat them 4-1 in the 1994 World Cup. Both sides had won five meetings and drawn two. Going into their second game of Group A, Vladimir Petkovic’s Swiss team had three points thanks to victory over Albania and Romania suffered a very narrow defeat to France.
Switzerland clawed their way back into a 1-1 draw with Romania thanks to Admir Mehmedi’s half-volley and are in a good position to progress.
These two sides had history, as Switzerland missed out on Euro ’92 thanks to Romania, but beat them 4-1 in the 1994 World Cup. Both sides had won five meetings and drawn two. Going into their second game of Group A, Vladimir Petkovic’s Swiss team had three points thanks to victory over Albania and Romania suffered a very narrow defeat to France.
Ex-Fiorentina forward Haris Seferovic curled inches wide early on, then fired straight at Ciprian Tatarusanu, but Romania were gifted an opener when Stephan Lichtsteiner tugged Alexandru Chipciu’s shirt in the box.
For the second time in as many games, Bogdan Stancu stepped up to convert from the penalty spot. Curiously, both Romanian goals in the tournament were penalties given away by Juventus players (the other by Patrice Evra for France).
Switzerland continued to dominate the game regardless, as Fiorentina goalkeeper Tatarusanu tipped a Fabian Schär strike over the bar.
Cristian Sapunaru wasted a golden opportunity for Romania by drilling wide from eight yards, while Blerim Dzemaili’s header was off target.
Djourou was almost left-red faced, but eventually glad he prodded just wide of his own goal from six yards on Gabriel Torje’s cross.
Switzerland did get their deserved equaliser when a corner was knocked down for the fierce Admir Mehmedi half-volley into the far top corner.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s acrobatic effort and a Dzemaili strike were off target, while Jan Sommer beat away a Torje effort from distance.
The draw means Switzerland are well primed to progress from the group stage with four points, but it’s increasingly tricky for Romania.
Romania 1-1 Switzerland
Stancu pen 18 (R), Mehmedi 57 (S)
Romania: Tatarusanu; Sapunaru, Chiriches, Grigoire, Rat (Filip 62); Prepelita, Pintilii (Hoban 46); Torje, Stancu (Andone 84), Chipciu; Keseru
Switzerland: Sommer; Lichtsteiner, Schär, Djourou, Rodriguez; Behrami, Xhaka; Shaqiri (Tarashaj 91), Dzemaili (M Lang 83), Mehmedi; Seferovic (Embolo 63)
Ref: Karasev (RUS)