The Swiss national football team starts the Euro year on Saturday against Denmark. The new assistant Giorgio Contini could suit Murat Yakin with his communication skills – he finds inspiration at the All Blacks.
Murat Yakin (left) and Giorgio Contini, both born in 1974, have known each other for a long time.
Peter Klaunzer / Keystone
Giorgio Contini says: “The media also claimed at the time that Murat Yakin was supposedly not the first choice.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek statement that says a lot about Contini. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, knows his role and describes himself as “a team player” and “communicative”. These are traits that should help him with the challenges of his new job as assistant to national soccer coach Murat Yakin.
Prominent names were discussed, such as former German world champion Miroslav Klose and Roberto Di Matteo, with Chelsea as Champions League winners coach. Davide Callà was considered the preferred candidate, but FC Basel was not prepared to release his assistant for a dual mandate. And so the search for a successor to Vincent Cavin dragged on for weeks.
When Giorgio Contini was finally presented in mid-February, it was a surprising choice. On the one hand. On the other hand, if you look closely, its installation is quite logical. Contini says: “A few months ago I couldn’t have imagined working as an assistant. I was a head coach for over ten years until last summer. But this constellation fits. And we have a very exciting time waiting for us with the European Championships in Germany in the summer.”
Yakin and Contini, both born in 1974, have known each other for a long time. They already worked together successfully once in the 2011/12 season at FC Luzern as “euphoric young coaches,” as Contini says: second place behind Basel, cup final defeat after a penalty shootout against Basel. They played against each other as footballers for the first time in 1997, when GC with Yakin won 8-0 against FC St. Gallen with Contini. They later completed parts of their coaching training together in Magglingen and formed a duo in Lucerne before Contini went his own way. Between 2012 and 2023 he delivered mostly decent to convincing work in Vaduz, St. Gallen, Lausanne and at GC.
The visit to Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid
The meeting with Giorgio Contini took place last week in St. Gallen in the belly of the football stadium in a cozy bakery-café. He hasn’t changed since his voluntary departure from GC last May, remaining open, quick-witted and direct. And Contini still believes he made the right decision in February 2023. At that time, he announced that he would not be extending his contract with GC at the end of the season because of the chaotic and unsatisfactory conditions at the club for a coach. That wasn’t courageous, but consistent, he says.
Things haven’t gotten any quieter at the Grasshoppers. The Contini family with two teenage children, on the other hand, spent an extended summer vacation together in 2023 for the first time in ages. Since then, Contini has cleared his head, bought a bike, done a lot of sports, met friends, read books, educated himself, sat in on clubs – with the highlight being a four-day stay at Real Madrid and coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Contini says that in conversation with the Italian he once again realized that being a football coach today is not just about being technically competent or tactically brilliant – but above all about leading a group of young men with empathy, communication skills and leadership to be able to. “You have to develop a feeling and a feel for people, moods and situations,” says Contini.
Sounds like a perfect approach for the Swiss national team after a complicated, disappointing 2023 international year. Contini’s predecessor, Vincent Cavin, lacked the broad acceptance of the national players, some of whom are coached by big players in their clubs. Contini has proven for years that he has mastered the craft of coaching – and he knows Swiss football better than Miroslav Klose or Roberto Di Matteo.
So there are good reasons why the collaboration between Yakin and Contini could work. Not just because they like each other. But also because one used to be a defensive player and the other was a striker. And because Contini has proven his qualities in those areas in which Murat Yakin is not always able to shine.
The 50-year-old could be present to the media in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino around the international matches; he speaks fluent German, French, Italian and also English and Spanish. Contini is also in a position to explain the coaching staff’s ideas to the national players from French-speaking Switzerland more precisely than Yakin.
What Contini will do after the European Championships is completely open
Giorgio Contini negotiated a commitment with clubs in the summer, autumn and also in January. But sometimes he didn’t get the contract, sometimes the destination wasn’t right, sometimes the task would have been a pure fire drill. Contini has also worked with FC Basel and YB for the last three years, but a commitment to Switzerland’s two biggest clubs has not yet materialized. Now the Eastern Swiss player could sharpen his profile by working with the best footballers in the country. He says: “I’m just thinking about the time until the European Championships. What comes next is completely open.”
The first squad of the European Championship year
The first Euro list of the year
The first call-up of the European Championship year🇩🇰 🆚🇨🇭 📆 23.3
🇮🇪 🆚🇨🇭 📆 26.3📰 https://t.co/AeHvUVv9wn#natimitetouch #lanatiavecvous #lanaticonvoi pic.twitter.com/zOD0SzdYkb
— 🇨🇭 Nati (@nati_sfv_asf) March 14, 2024
For now, the two Swiss European Championship test matches are scheduled to take place on Saturday in Denmark and on Tuesday in Ireland. Contini says that the training week in La Manga, Spain, is also about everyone in the national team getting to know their role. “It’s not always the best who play, but rather the players who fit together best.” Contini recently read a book about the values of the legendary New Zealand rugby team All Blacks, it’s about humility and solidarity, modesty and responsibility. These are qualities that the Swiss team can put to good use.
Giorgio Contini will play his second international match in Copenhagen on Saturday, 23 years late. In February 2001, he was unexpectedly allowed to play a test match in Cyprus against Poland alongside Stéphane Chapuisat because things were going quite well for him at FC St. Gallen. Switzerland lost 0:4 in front of 200 spectators. A month later, young Alex Frei introduced himself to the national team with three goals against Luxembourg. Contini says with a smile that perhaps everything would have turned out completely differently if he and not today’s Swiss record goalscorer Frei had been given the assignment against Luxembourg back then.