A sore throat and a slight fever: with his health ailing, Yakin focuses on training instead of answering reporters' questions ahead of the Spain match. Assistant coach Giorgio Contini steps in.
The 50-year-old once again shone with his multilingualism. Whether Spanish, French or German: Contini answered all questions in detail. At the end, the SFA media officer asked whether anyone could also ask a question in Italian, which would perhaps be a world record.
The scene shows: Two days after the 1:1 draw against Serbia, which sealed relegation to League B of the Nations League, there was no hangover mood in the national team. Of course they were disappointed not to be able to play for a place in the league on Monday, explained Contini. "But we have to look ahead and set ourselves the next ambitious goals." The aim against Spain is not to let the campaign fade away. "We want to show the European champions that we can keep up."
To do this, Yakin and Contini want to find the right mix between established players and players with new ideas. There will be a few changes compared to the last starting eleven, but they don't want to completely turn the team on its head. "We're not asking ourselves who we want to rest, but who we absolutely need on the pitch," said Contini. Contini was evasive when it came to specific personnel questions, but he did hint that the team would play in the same system as last time, a 4-2-3-1.
Although the game is of no sporting importance, the players are fully focused on the task at hand, Contini assured. "Anyone who plays against the European champions is automatically highly motivated." This also applies to the 600 or so Swiss fans who made the long journey to the Canary Island of Tenerife to support Switzerland once again in their final Nations League group game.
SDA
