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Switzerland are delighted to play against Lionel Messi's Argentina and believe they can cause an upset and reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time.
"You could see in the last two games that Argentina were vulnerable as well. So we are prepared and it will be a gigantic game for us," coach Murat Yakin said ahead of Saturday's duel.
"There is nothing greater for a country like Switzerland to play a quarter-final against Argentina."
The Swiss optimism comes because Argentina had to fight hard to get there. They needed extra time to beat debutants Cape Verde 3-2 in the round of 32 and had to fight from 2-0 down after 78 minutes to beat Egypt with the same 3-2 scoreline in the last 16.
"We can challenge the world champions," said Yakin, whose side reached quarter-finals 2-0 against Algeria and on penalties against Colombia in the previous knock-out rounds.
Defender Manuel Akanji insisted that "we are not finished yet" and added: "We can play against any opponent and make it really difficult for them."
Switzerland are playing their first quarter-final in 72 years since the home event in 1954 and captain Granit Xhaka wants more.
"The hunger is as big as never before. You must give your all if you can write an even bigger story," he said.
Switzerland last faced Argentina in the World Cup in 2014 in the round of 16, a tight affair which Argentina won 1-0 late in extra time from Ángel Di María, set up by Messi.
It will be up to the defence led by Akanji to stop Messi who has already scored eight goals at the tournament and according to Xhaka is "one of the best players on the planet."
Forward Zeki Amdouni said in a light-hearted post on social media: "I will play against Messi. That's it, I can quit football."
The bad news for the Swiss is that fellow forward and three-time scorer Johan Manzambi is unlikely to recover in time from a knee injury that already sidelined him against Colombia.
Yakin's match plan worked against Colombia and it will take at least a similar effort with passion and belief to stop triple champions Argentina.
But Yakin also expects Argentina to respect them, something "we have earned and gained."
Continue reading...
"You could see in the last two games that Argentina were vulnerable as well. So we are prepared and it will be a gigantic game for us," coach Murat Yakin said ahead of Saturday's duel.
"There is nothing greater for a country like Switzerland to play a quarter-final against Argentina."
The Swiss optimism comes because Argentina had to fight hard to get there. They needed extra time to beat debutants Cape Verde 3-2 in the round of 32 and had to fight from 2-0 down after 78 minutes to beat Egypt with the same 3-2 scoreline in the last 16.
"We can challenge the world champions," said Yakin, whose side reached quarter-finals 2-0 against Algeria and on penalties against Colombia in the previous knock-out rounds.
Defender Manuel Akanji insisted that "we are not finished yet" and added: "We can play against any opponent and make it really difficult for them."
Switzerland are playing their first quarter-final in 72 years since the home event in 1954 and captain Granit Xhaka wants more.
"The hunger is as big as never before. You must give your all if you can write an even bigger story," he said.
Switzerland last faced Argentina in the World Cup in 2014 in the round of 16, a tight affair which Argentina won 1-0 late in extra time from Ángel Di María, set up by Messi.
It will be up to the defence led by Akanji to stop Messi who has already scored eight goals at the tournament and according to Xhaka is "one of the best players on the planet."
Forward Zeki Amdouni said in a light-hearted post on social media: "I will play against Messi. That's it, I can quit football."
The bad news for the Swiss is that fellow forward and three-time scorer Johan Manzambi is unlikely to recover in time from a knee injury that already sidelined him against Colombia.
Yakin's match plan worked against Colombia and it will take at least a similar effort with passion and belief to stop triple champions Argentina.
But Yakin also expects Argentina to respect them, something "we have earned and gained."
Continue reading...
