Did Aston Villa get a lucky escape missing out on Haris Seferovic? The reaction to his World Cup qualifying display on Tuesday says a lot.
European Champions Portugal left it late to seal their place at next summer’s Russia World Cup. In a winner-takes-all clash against Switzerland on Tuesday night, a Johan Djourou own goal and an Andre Silva strike ensured that Fernando Santos’ men have qualified at last – leaving their opponents forced to navigate the play-offs.
Though a nerve-shredding evening might have been even more worrisome if Haris Seferovic had his shooting boots on. In front of his own Benfica supporters at the Estadio da Luz, the Swiss centre-forward endured ‘one of those nights’.
He failed to hit the target with any of his three attempts on goal and, according to WhoScored, was statistically the worst player on the pitch.
If any Aston Villa supporters were watching, then, they will not have been too disturbed about the club’s inability to bring Seferovic to England in the summer. According to The Mail, Villa had scouted the 6ft 1ins striker last season with a view to making a move in the summer.
This was despite a less than impressive tally of six goals in his last 54 Bundesliga appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt. In total, Seferovic has netted just 21 goals across the entirety of his professional league career.
His international record isn’t much better, standing at 11 goals in 43 games. And, on the basis of his performance in Portugal, Villa have maybe benefitted from a lucky escape.
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