Hundreds of fans give the Swiss national football team a warm welcome in Zurich after their return from the European Championship in Germany. The players are grateful and full of energy.
One day after their bitter exit from the European Championship in the round of 16 against England (3:5 on penalties), the national team arrived in Zurich on Sunday at around 5 p.m. on the team buses from Stuttgart. On Europaallee near the main railway station, the players, coaches and staff were welcomed on stage by presenter Rainer Maria Salzgeber and a large number of fans with great applause.
"Thank you so much for your support, here and now and before that in the German stadiums! Of course we felt the euphoria," said captain Granit Xhaka. "We wanted the maximum and pushed ourselves to the limit. The penalty shoot-out is tough, but I think you can all be proud along with us."
Manuel Akanji, the tragic figure on Saturday in Düsseldorf with his unconverted penalty, was already looking ahead: "It was an incredible atmosphere, we could feel that. More would have been possible in this tournament. I hope it works out next time."
Breel Embolo and Xherdan Shaqiri were also no longer disappointed. "We wanted to give something back and we managed to do that. I think we'll get another chance. We're a young team and we all know what we can do," said Embolo. Shaqiri said: "We are no longer little Switzerland. We want to hold our own against the big boys and things are looking good for the future."
SDA
