Team Serbia will host the Swiss national team in Kragujevac, Serbia as the Serbian team looks to earn a historic win in front of their home fans in an International Federation of American Football, IFAF, Group A qualification matchup.
Both the Swiss and Serbians lost to Team Sweden earlier this month. Sweden edged Serbia 21-14 two weeks ago and then beat Switzerland 31-6 last week in Switzerland. Expect both teams to be ready to compete at a high-level today.
Serbian head coach Brett Morgan’s defense played extremely well in their match-up against Sweden holding one of Europe’s top teams to just 165 yards of total offense. Defensively for Serbia, ELF All–Star Goran Zec is an impact player in the secondary. Look for the speedy veteran to be flying sideline to sideline today. At the line of scrimmage, Dusan Novakovic and Igor Timotejevic are two skilled veterans with experience playing in Italy, Germany, and the ELF. Linebacker Lazar Bogicevic of the Belgrade Blue Dragons is another player to watch on this defense.
Quarterback Branislav Fekete of the Kikinda Mammoths will be calling signals behind a solid offensive line featuring veteran Milan Pavlovic of the Kragujevac Wild Boars. That line will hope to open some holes for a talented group of running backs Filip Vlajic and Danijel Dordic. However, Serbia struggled to run the ball against Sweden managing negative six yards on the ground. On the outside receivers Peter Bajalica and Jovan Ikić give Fekete options to target in the passing game.
For the visiting Swiss, head coach Chris Winter looks to get his team into Group A and contend for gold in the future. However, things didn’t get off to a great start as they lost to Sweden last week 31-6. At quarterback, young Christian Wartmann of the Winterthur Warriors will look to manage the game. At receiver Allgäu Comets (GFL) star Pascal Ruegg and 6’4″ pass catcher Sven Reipl give him options on the outside. Upfront, Jurg Stadler and Michael Derungs lead a young offensive line that will look to open holes for running backs Ibony Mbungu and Leon Simioni.
Defensively, Hamburg Sea Devils (ELF) star and NFL International Combine standout Tim Haenni will anchor the Swiss defensive line. At linebacker, veterans Fabio Rothmund and CFL draft pick Lukas Ruoss will give Switzerland a tough second level to run against. In the secondary, former Dresden Monarch Tim Haggman will be the leader of this unit. Another veteran on this side was former New Yorker Lions linebacker Jonathan Faulk who gave the Swiss a spark last week with a pick-six just one minute into the game.
Fans can expect another hard-fought defensive game today as both teams will look to protect the ball, play good defense, and make special teams plays to get the win today.
Switzerland @ Serbia, October 23rd, 13:00 CET (1 pm, 7 am ET)