Blerim Dzemaili "Didn't See The Ball" As Switzerland Lost To Argentina

As soon as he came on in the second half of extra time, Blerim Dzemaili started making an impact. Switzerland were chasing an unlikely win against one of the World Cup favorites as they'd been able to hold Argentina off the scoresheet. With less than ten minutes to go, one of Napoli's fan favorites turned on the jets and used his prodigious work rate to his fullest, running an exhausted Argentine defense ragged as they tried desperately to keep from conceding.

Unfortunately, just five minutes later the Swiss defense were the ones doing the conceding, with a brilliant pass from Lionel Messi leaving the back line in knots and Angel Di Maria providing the finishing touch. Just moments after that, though, Dzei was left unmarked at the far post as a cross came in...

... then his header bounced off the post, then the rebound ricocheted harmlessly off his knee.

That would be the last real chance for Switzerland, as a free kick at the death taken by Xherdan Shaqiri was blocked by the wall, and that was that.

Dzemaili was visibly distraught after his miss, obviously and understandably feeling that he should have done better, that he should have equalized to send the match to penalties. For the many Napoli fans around the world who love everything he's done for the side over the years, it was a heartbreaking moment. After getting a chance to gather himself after the match, Dzemaili spoke about what happened:

"I was unlucky on that chance, as I didn’t see the ball until the last moment and then the ricochet didn’t go my way.

"It’s horrible going out like this, but we played a great game and cannot have asked for any more from ourselves.

"We go out with our heads held high, but this is a young squad and we’ll grow with the coming years."

-Source: Football Italia

Poor Dzei.

For their part, none of his Napoli teammates in the match on either side of the ball were able to cover themselves in glory. Gokhan Inler and Valon Behrami did a good enough job of containing part of Argentina's attack, but did little to add to Switzerland's attacks or counters. Gonzalo Higuain struggled and didn't really look fully fit, and Federico Fernandez was just kind of there in Argentina's defense.