On June 29, Switzerland will face defending champions Italy in the Round of 16 of the European Championship. Ahead of the match, Swiss coach Murat Yakin emphasized the players’ confidence and said they are “really looking forward” to the key game.
Switzerland had a strong performance in the group stage of this European Championship. They easily beat Hungary 3-1 in their first match, followed by a 1-1 draw against Scotland. In their final group stage match, they played an impressive 1-1 draw against hosts Germany, almost securing a victory. In comparison, Italy’s situation was much tougher. They narrowly won their opening game against Albania 2-1, then suffered a painful 0-1 loss to Spain. Their game against Croatia saw them advance thanks to a last-minute goal from Zaccagni.
In an interview with Swiss media SRF, Yakin first discussed the team’s mindset going into the game against Italy. Yakin said: “We will fight with all our strength. I can’t say we are the favorites, because we are facing Italy, but I can’t hide the huge confidence that the draw with Germany has given us. We watched Italy’s games closely, analyzed the tactics and strategy, and we will continue to delve into it these days. We are really looking forward to the game, the whole team is ready. Even from a psychological point of view, we have enough strength to deal with such a game.”
Yakin believes that Switzerland shouldn’t be overly worried about Italy, but rather the opposite. Yakin said: “Actually, we don’t want to worry too much about Italy, in fact, I think it’s the other way around, because we are currently doing well. I really like Serie A, the league is very high quality and tactical. The Italian national team has great players, so it will be a huge challenge. We understand their strengths and weaknesses, so we will try to get something out of this game.”
Finally, Yakin discussed Switzerland’s strengths and the positive influence of their fans. Yakin said: “High-intensity pressing and running make us strong, our system and tactics are working. Off the field, we also have the support of our great fans. Even against hosts Germany, we could hear the fans cheering, it was fantastic to have their support for the whole 90 minutes.”
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