LEIPZIG, Germany — Switzerland has never reached the last four of a major international tournament but has shown that they can battle with the big boys ahead of their Euro 2024 clash with England on Saturday.
Murat Yakin’s side were ruthless in dumping hapless holders Italy out of the tournament last weekend and went within seconds of beating hosts Germany and topping Group A.
The Swiss are also one of two so-called “dark horses” who are left in the tournament alongside Turkey, with the other six either previous champions or, in England’s case, heavily tipped to break their Euros duck.
“We sent out an important signal tonight with the game we played,” said Yakin after beating Italy.
“We did not only club together and defend as a unit and sit back, we showed we could attack and dominate proceedings,” Yakin added according to AFP.
Switzerland have reached their second straight Euros quarterfinal with a squad which contains very few stars, with Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka and Manuel Akanji of Manchester City their biggest names.
Instead Switzerland has a team unit which is more than the sum of its parts and has a great chance to reach a historic semifinal by eliminating England, who would already be out of the tournament were it not for the last-gasp heroics of Jude Bellingham against Slovakia.
Driving the Swiss forward are Bologna teammates Dan Ndoye, Michel Aebischer and Remo Freuler, who are making an impression in Germany after pushing their unfancied Serie A club to the Champions League.
The trio have all been key to Switzerland reaching the quarters, netting or setting up a goal in three of their team’s four matches.
Freuler crossed for Ndoye’s goal against Germany and opened the scoring against Italy, while Aebischer has scored once – against Hungary – and laid on two more, including Ruben Vargas’ stunner which sealed victory against the Italians.
Switzerland also have Kwadwo Duah, the first player born in England to score at this year’s Euros, in their ranks, although the Ludogorets striker is likely be on the bench behind Monaco forward Breel Embolo.
“How they’ve played this tournament and the players they’ve got, they’ve been brilliant,” said England defender John Stones.
“They’ve got some great players and I think it will be a really good match up, a test for us.”
If Switzerland do get past England, they will face either the Netherlands or Turkey as a lop-sided knockout bracket has led to four of the top sides left in tournament all on the other side of the draw.
Hosts Germany and Spain kick off the round on Friday in a battle of the two best-performing teams before Portugal take on France.
“It really sends a tingle down your spine, gives you goosebumps, it’s hugely gratifying,” said Yakin of his team’s displays.
“We’re on the right track and doing things the right way. We’ve earned the right to be here but we’re not done yet.”
England’s happiness at being on what is perceived to be the easier side of the knockout draw at Euro 2024 has been tested by Slovakia but what awaits them in the quarter-final on Saturday will be an even sterner examination.
Opponents Switzerland has been beaten only once in their 18 matches since the World Cup, a dead rubber European Championship qualifier in Romania, and have lost outright in one of their last 14 games at the Euros dating back to 2008.
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos was full of praise for the Swiss after the hosts needed a 92nd-minute equaliser in their final pool match to draw 1-1 while Italy’s Bryan Cristante was candid after their 2-0 last-16 defeat.
“They beat us physically and in terms of organisation,” he said according to AFP.
For an England side that has found opening up opponents difficult in Germany, that presents another tactical challenge for manager Gareth Southgate.
The Swiss has a settled back-four but Coach Murat Yakin is not afraid to make changes in the forward positions, and with several options across the front three, it makes it hard to plan for them.
Switzerland’s seven goals at Euro 2024 have come from different players, they are not reliant on an individual who can be contained, but spread the workload across the team, whether in attack or defence.
They also work incredibly hard. Midfielder Rubin Vargas praised his side for how they suffocated Italy when out of possession. “We didn’t give them time to breathe,” he said.
The Swiss are second bottom for number of tackles made (36) at the finals, but have conceded only three goals, which shows how they use their organisation and press to subdue opponents.
In fact, goalkeeper Yann Sommer has been forced to make only six saves in more than six hours of football, so well has he been protected by his defence. No gloveman has been less busy at Euro 2024.
The Swiss are one of four teams at the tournament to have scored two goals from outside the box, along with Germany, Turkey and Romania.
They have had more shots on target (18) than off target (15) at these finals, a claim only a handful of sides can make, and don’t mind not having the ball with 48 per cent possession spread across their games.
They do not use width much and are last of the 24 teams for crosses completed with five in four games, keeping their play compact in central positions.
“When we put on our pressing, we won’t let them (England) play. That’s our job,” Yakin told reporters. “We played well against Germany; we played well against Italy, so why shouldn’t we beat England?”
England striker Ivan Toney, meanwhile, said that the Three Lions must seize the second chance handed to them at Euro 2024 by a remarkable late fightback against Slovakia to reach the quarter-finals.
Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick five minutes into stoppage time prevented Gareth Southgate’s much-hyped side from an embarrassing early exit in the last 16.
Toney, in his first appearance at the tournament as a late substitute, then teed up Harry Kane to head in the winner in extra-time to set up a meeting with Switzerland in the last eight on Saturday.
“I think that was kind of like eye opening, you could be going home any minute,” Toney said a press conference.
“The relief after in the dressing room was kind of like ‘right now boys, it’s time to kick on’.
“I think we’ve got the character and the quality of players in the dressing room to do so.”
Bellingham hit out at England’s critics after the game, saying he had to put up with “rubbish” in the media after struggling in the previous two games against Denmark and Serbia.
Southgate also bemoaned an “usual atmosphere” after beer cups were thrown at him in the aftermath of a 0-0 draw against Slovenia, which secured top spot in Group C and progression to the knockout stages.
England arrived in Germany as one of the favourites for the competition thanks to a richly-talented squad that includes the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer in Kane, Real Madrid star Bellingham and Phil Foden, who won accolades as the Premier League’s player of the year last season.
However, they are just one of a number of fancied sides, also including France and Portugal, who have advanced to the last eight despite underwhelming performances.
“There is always going to be an expectation and there’s a lot of people that will always have their opinion,” Toney said.
“If we win 2-0, people say we should have won 3-0, 4-0, but that’s always the case. We’re two games away from a major final and we’ve just got to do what we can to do it and hopefully it’ll be enough.”
Southgate admitted after the Slovakia game that Toney had been annoyed at him for being introduced deep into stoppage time.
The Brentford striker said he had to “control his emotions” to reset and play a major role in extra-time in both getting England in front and then seeing the game out.
