Two passes and 27 seconds. That’s how long the Italian fightback lasted.
In the first half of their pre-quarterfinal against Switzerland, Italy had been completely outplayed. With Granit Xhaka walking — and that’s not colourful exaggeration — and controlling play, and everyone else swirling about in a whir of non-stop motion, the Swiss had gone into the break comfortably ahead. The score may have read 1-0, but that was a margin only minimized by their own casual finishing and Gianluigi Donnarumma’s inimitable brilliance.
So, it would have been entirely reasonable that Luciano Spalletti got the hairdryer out and the defending champions of Europe would put on a braver front. If ever there is a national team that’s built its identity on capitalizing on moments, it’s the Italians, so the Swiss knew what to expect too – one goal wasn’t going to be enough, however much better they were on the day. The Italians walked out for the second half seemingly pumped and their intent showed in the way they lined up. — with about seven players on the line and all of them pouring forward post kick-off. This is where the two passes happen. The first was obviously the kick-off, but the second saw Nicolo Fagioli sweep one straight back to the opposition… and the Swiss were off. Except they countered in slow-motion, allowing the Italians to furiously rush back into position, the deliberate slowing down an exercise in establishing authority. You see, intent had been shown, and it was currently under the process of being thoroughly laughed at.
The ball moved down the left flank, and that’s were Ruben Vargas picked it up.
The only change from their previous match, Vargas had been terrific down Switzerland’s left all of the first half. It was he who had picked out Remo Freuler’s brilliant run with a perfectly timed, impeccably weighted pass to break the deadlock and it was now he who was going to finish Italy off. And he would do it with a casual nonchalance that underlined his side’s utter dominance.
Now, Vargas isn’t the most prolific player out there — in five seasons for FC Augsburg he’d only scored 22 goals in 151 appearances, for Switzerland that number was 8 in 47. In fact, the last time Switzerland had played at the Euros, Vargas’ had been the last of three misses that consigned them to quarterfinal defeat against Spain. He may be trusted implicitly by national coach Murat Yakin, who values his versatility and all-out commitment highly, but goalscorer extraordinaire he was not.
However, like many in the Swiss forward line, he’s one of those players who look much better when seen in action than their stats give them credit for. Sample the way he wafted into Italy’s penalty box, for instance. A pass to Xhaka and he was on the move, just in time for Michel Aebischer to pick him out with a straightforward pass – a neat little triangle worked out with the Italian markers looking on in confusion.
And then there’s the finish, of course. A touch to steady himself, and Vargas let fly. Left hand outstretched and body leaning back in the body posture that can only mean top bins curler, Vargas slammed it past a fully stretched Donnarumma and right into the far top corner. In planning it was a thing a of simple football pass-and-move poetry, in execution flawless geometry. The man who’d once done a three-year apprenticeship as a painter would have certainly appreciated the angles of it all.
2-0 Switzerland and Italy had the stuffing knocked out of them. For the rest of the game they appeared to go through the motions before eventually just resigning to the inevitable… and it had been Vargas’ brilliance that ensured it would be just that.
For the brilliance of his finish and for the significance of it, Ruben Vargas takes our Moment of the Day from day 14 of Euro 2024.
