March 25, (THEWILL) – Switzerland kicked off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign in style, with a dominant 5-0 win over Belarus in a Group I match held behind closed doors in Serbia, on Saturday.
Renato Steffen led the charge, scoring all three of his goals in the opening half-hour of the game, with Captain Granit Xhaka and substitute, Zeki Amdouni, adding the other goals.
Steffen’s goals all came in a similar fashion, with him proving an effective poacher, set up down the left-hand side of the Swiss attack. The 31-year-old’s first goal came after four minutes, followed by a left-foot finish in the 17th, and an easy touch from Ricardo Rodriguez’s cross to complete his hat-trick in 29 minutes.
Xhaka and Amdouni later added their own strikes, in the 62nd and 65th minutes respectively, to seal a convincing win. Belarus offered little resistance throughout the game, with striker Vladimir Khvaschinski hitting the woodwork in the first minute at the Karadjordje Stadium.
Switzerland’s next game is against Israel, in Geneva, on Tuesday, while Belarus visits Romania in their second match of the Euro qualifiers.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
