Swiss frustration after 1: 6 at World Cup against Portugal – Yakin safe in office

Seferovic: “What should I say about that?”

The 6-1 swatter against Portugal in the World Cup round of 16 triggered a lot of frustration in the Swiss national team – and a discussion about the tactics of coach Murat Yakin. “We changed our plan and unfortunately it didn’t work out,” said former Bayern professional Xherdan Shaqiri after the Confederates’ third knockout round in a World Cup in a row. However, no Swiss player would have reached normal level.

“The coach is the coach. He makes the tactics. And we lost. What can I say? 6:1 That says it all,” said former Frankfurt player Haris Seferovic, who also made “far too many mistakes” in his own team’s game. Yakin initially deployed a back three instead of the usual back four after Mainz full-back Silvan Widmer was out due to a cold.

Both the coach and his players were asked several times about the system change after the game. “It wasn’t the system, it was the readiness. We never had access to the game,” Yakin said. The cases of illness that the team had to deal with in the past few days might have cost them strength. “We didn’t lose the game because of the system,” emphasized captain Granit Xhaka. Not running defensively and only wanting something offensively “can’t be done at this level,” said the former Gladbacher, who seemed extremely irritated.

After being eliminated in the round of 16: Switzerland coach Yakin safe in office

Will the result weaken Yakin’s position and possibly even jeopardize his position as national coach? “No, not at all,” said the director of the Swiss national team, Pierluigi Tami, after the game at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday evening. “Of course we will analyze this in detail. But I already realized that there is life in the team.” At the finals in Qatar, the Swiss made a squad that ranked 14th in terms of squad value in a comparison of all participating nations.

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