Milan loanee Athekame builds on Lyon success with Switzerland debut

Zachary Athekame has been rewarded for the cracking start to the season with his debut for the Swiss national team, starting against North Macedonia tonight.

After playing a key role for the U21 team for quite some time, Athekame is now finally ready to make his debut for the senior side. The successful start to the season with Lyon clearly caught the attention of Murat Yakin, who didn’t think twice about calling him up and starting him tonight.

A successful start is definitely the way to put it, as Athekame has registered two goals and two assists in the first six games of the season. He’s even been such a standout player that Ligue 1 published a compilation of his performances two days ago.

Anyway, returning to tonight’s game, Switzerland are taking on North Macedonia in their first Nations League clash. Another Milan player, Ardon Jashari, is also playing from start in the game in what can be described as a Granit Xhaka role (he has been sent home).

In addition to the Swiss duo, Luka Modric is also starting for Croatia in their game against the Czech Republic tonight (20:45 kick-off time for both games). It’s not the same as watching Milan, of course, but it’s still interesting to see how the players adapt to national team football.