After Tuesday’s 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Portugal in the World Cup round of 16, Switzerland coach Murat Yakin claimed his squad had simply been defeated by a stronger team.
Yakin claimed that Fabian Schar, a defender who had to be changed at halftime, had been having trouble breathing.
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Asked what his future held, It’s not the time for overreactions, according to Yakin.
“Our opponent today was better, faster, more offensive and our plan didn’t work out and we have to accept that,” Yakin told a news conference.
“We had great plans, we wanted to make history, we showed great football in the group stage and now we faced a opponent, a better opponent, but we can still be proud of what we have achieved here.
“We are seeing that the great teams are advancing here, some were able to rest players and then they had freshness. We were lacking that freshness,” he said.
“We lost a game today and that doesn’t mean we have to be too pessmistic and criticise everything,” he said.
“We showed great spirit and had great plans today, we have to just accept that the opponent was better and had more strength and we have to put that behind us and look forward,” he added.
Recall how Goncalo Ramos, who was shockingly substituted for Cristiano Ronaldo, inspired Portugal to a 6-1 World Cup victory over Switzerland with a spectacular hat-trick?
Fernando Santos, the manager of Portugal, shocked everyone by sitting the top scorer in the annals of international football on the bench. A 21-year-old who was making his maiden international start quickly seized the show and secured a matchup with Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Before veteran center-back Pepe, who is 18 years older than Ramos, became the second-oldest goal scorer in the World Cup, after the legendary Roger Milla of Cameroon, Ramos viciously slammed a shot into the top corner in the 17th minute.
