Football. ua presents a preview of the playoff match-back selection at the 2018 World Cup, in which Switzerland will take Northern Ireland.

Switzerland - Northern Ireland (first match 1: 0) Sunday, 19:00, Basel,? St. Jakob Park,. The arbitrator of the meeting is Felix Brykh.

In the first match, the Swiss achieved an ideal result for themselves and in a good mood approaching the return match. Away team of Vladimir Petkovic was better than his opponent, but without a scandal did not happen. The referee of the meeting, Ovidiu Khatsegan, made a very ambiguous decision, appointed a penalty to the Northern Ireland goal for alleged play with the hand of Corry Evans, and thanks to this the guests left Belfast with a victory.

At the repetition it was clear that as such the game was not a hand and the ball most likely hit the shoulder. However, the referee pointed to the point and Ricardo Rodriguez realized a penalty. After the match, Khatsegan was criticized as the coach of the Northern Ireland team, and the players, but the truth from this, in truth, little. The bill, as they say, on the scoreboard. Michael O'Neil expressed the hope that in the second leg the referee will make a mistake in favor of his team, but it's already behind the scenes.

The game the Swiss were stronger than their opponent and deserved to win, but the fact remains - the decisive goal was scored not by the rules. Even if you do not take into account this point, Hacegan sued very unsuccessfully. The arbitrator whistled practically at each single combat, knocked down the pace and, roughly speaking, did not allow teams to play football. Let's hope that today's referee Felix Brykh will forgive players more and will not whistle with every fall of a football player.

After the home defeat the task of the Northern Ireland team was complicated to the maximum. The Swiss and away were stronger, and at home with the support of the stands they can completely sweep an opponent out of their way. The guests will open, which is exactly what the Petkovic team needs. The hosts will play on the account and may well give the initiative to the opponent and play on counterattacks.

Approximate compositions:.

Switzerland:

Sommer-Lichtsteiner, Cher, Akandzhi, Rodriguez-Jaca, Zakaria-Shakiri, Dzemaliili, Mehmedi-Seferovich Northern Ireland: McGovern-McLaughlin, J. Evans, Macaulie, Brant-Davies, K. Evans - Magenis, Norwood, Dallas - Washington Disqualified: K. Evans (North. Ireland) Injured: - In doubt: Dallas (North. Ireland) forecast 3: 0 Alexander Puzik, Football. ua Do you want to learn the main football news first? Subscribe to our channel in Telegram! You can also follow our website in Viber and Twitter.

Author: Alexander Puzik.