Switzerland's soccer coach Murat Yakin is upbeat about his team's chances against England at Euro 2024, despite going 43 years without a win.
Yakin received high praise for his strategic approach when his team trounced Italy in the prior round, which has evidently driven the coach and his team into a self-assured state as they prepare for the quarterfinal showdown in Dusseldorf, Germany.
He said: "We are in good shape. We have a lot of self-confidence and we have shown that in several games that we can play against big teams. We played against the defending champions, we played well against the hosts. We will cause problems for England."
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Granit Xhaka will be joining the Swiss lineup in Dusseldorf despite a recent thigh injury during the 2-0 victory over Italy, confirmed by his coach. Yakin expressed genuine faith in the former Arsenal midfielder's ability to trouble familiar rivals.
He added: "Granit has a lot of experience. He is fit and he trained with the team. I count on him 100 percent and I think he will play a great game."
But Xhaka is not the only Swiss player well versed with the England squad. Newcastle defender Fabian Schar expresses caution about England's collective threat, more than any single player.
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He stated: "It’s not just Harry Kane that we have to stop. We have to stop the entire English team. They have a lot of quality. We know how dangerous and difficult it can be but we have been good at defending during this tournament."
A loss against Switzerland could spell the end for Gareth Southgate as England's coach, and Schar is crossing his fingers that the English Football Association (FA) won't tempt Eddie Howe away from Newcastle. He said: "I hope he will stay at Newcastle.
"If you see the work he’s done over the last few years, I think he has a lot of quality and he knows how to handle big clubs. I’m really hopeful he stays."