European Championship round of 16 and opponents Italy? No problem. The Swiss drew attention to themselves with a dominant performance. But they deliberately didn't make any big statements afterwards.
It would also have been surprising if the national players had suddenly deviated from their previous course. This was to radiate self-confidence without boasting. And that's how it sounded after the clear 2-0 win against Italy, in which the Swiss never had to worry about progressing after going 2-0 up at the start of the second half.
"I'm deliberately not saying that we wanted to make history today," said Breel Embolo. "But we wanted to make a statement. And we did that as a group, as a team, as a nation." A statement to all those who perhaps - and not without good reason after qualifying for the European Championship - doubted the quality of this team. A statement also to all those who predicted that this team would fail again when it really mattered.
But what has enabled the team to take this important step? The players agree: hard work and great team spirit. Remo Freuler, the scorer of the 1:0 goal, said: "I heard that we played 31 passes before my goal. That shows how we play as a team. Everyone makes their contribution." That also applies to the defense, where everyone is prepared to run for each other. "When we lost the ball, we won it back immediately." That has been the team's hallmark since the group stage.
Because the Swiss analyzed the game so soberly, at some point the question came from the group of reporters: "Are you actually aware that you beat the European champions?" Goalie Yann Sommer answered with a smile. "We are aware of that, we played against a very good opponent. But we did a lot of things right and didn't let them get into the game in the first place." His team exuded more energy right from the start, immediately taking control of the game and never relinquishing it.
Of course, the question then arose as to where this could all lead. Youngster Fabian Rieder, like his teammates, waved it off. "I don't want to go into that now. Today we're enjoying the moment, tomorrow too. And then we'll get back to preparing for the next game on Monday."
SDA
