[ad_1]
DÜSSELDORF, Germany: Switzerland also has the quality to beat England at Euro 2024, coach Murat Yakin said on Wednesday, after preventing hosts Germany from maintaining their perfect record and knocking out defending champions Italy.
Yakin said ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final in Dusseldorf that England have quality players capable of playing in big tournaments but they should be prepared to battle against a team that plays beautiful football and has a lot of fighting spirit.
“We played well against Germany, we played against Italy, they are a strong team too, why can’t we beat England?” he told a news conference.
“We are in a good mood now. Let’s see, it’s a good challenge and my team is ready for this big battle against England.”
Pre-tournament favourites England still had a lot to prove after a string of sub-par performances that left fans doubting their ability to turn the tide against a confident and organised Swiss side.
Yakin was coach of England manager Gareth Southgate last year, when Southgate was criticised for his tactics and poor performance in qualifying, with Switzerland emerging from one of the easiest groups after conceding several goals against weaker opponents.
However, his fortunes changed at Euro 2024, with Yakin being praised at home for his astute modifications to tactics and team selection, while maintaining a solid defensive and attacking focus.
He said he understood the pressure Southgate was under.
“Of course, in the UK you have these problems when you have big players and you can choose from a lot of players and you keep some of the good players at home and you can’t get results,” he said.
“I’ve learned a little bit about it myself from last year, just focusing on the football game and not what we read in the newspapers, that’s the only thing we can do as coaches.”
[ad_2]
Source link
