By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
GENEVA (Reuters) – Switzerland will bank on their track record of consistency at major tournaments to reach the Euro 2024 knockout stage following a below-par qualifying campaign that unnerved their captain and put the coach in the spotlight.
Managed by Murat Yakin, the Swiss have a reputation for finding a way to perform at major tournaments, unburdened by the pressure star-studded teams face to reach the late stages.
They have featured at all but one major finals since 2004, and reached the Euro 2020 quarter-finals by knocking out world champions France in a shootout after recovering from 3-1 down with nine minutes remaining.
To get of out Group A, which includes hosts Germany, Scotland and Hungary, Switzerland will have to rediscover the momentum they had early in qualifying before uninspired performances caused worried captain Granit Xhaka to criticise the squad for a lack of intensity in training.
In a qualifying group with weaker sides such as Israel, Kosovo and Belarus, they finished second, two points ahead of Israel and five behind Romania. Switzerland recorded five draws — an unusually high number — four wins and one loss.
Their tepid qualifying campaign stirred debate about whether Yakin, who remains under contract until after the finals, should be fired, but the Swiss FA issued a statement last November backing the manager.
“In terms of results, things sometimes didn’t go the way we wanted, which was our fault,” Yakin said in March.
“We didn’t live up to expectations in certain areas, especially in attack where we unfortunately didn’t convert our chances.”
Since their disappointing qualifying campaign, Switzerland have looked solid at the back led by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. They had two clean sheets in beating Ireland 1-0 and drawing 0-0 with fellow Euro qualifiers Denmark in friendlies in March.
Xhaka, who has revived his career with a move to Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen from Arsenal last year, has been instrumental for his club in their stellar season and will be key for Switzerland if they are to be successful at the Euros.
The Swiss will warm up for the finals with friendlies against Austria and Estonia this week when they will hope to find the momentum that will give them a strong start in their Euro opener against Hungary on June 15.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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