Ready To Compete, Swiss Coach Believes He Can Set Aside Italy

JAKARTA - Swiss coach Murat Yakin admires Italian football which is full of tactics, but his team has also grown rapidly in recent years.

He is preparing a surprise to set aside defending Italian champions in the 2024 European Cup last 16 match in Berlin on Saturday night, 29 June.

"We have finished our homework, not only seeing these three matches but the matches before this tournament," said Yakin as reported by AFP on Saturday, June 29.

"We are always surprised by the way Italy combines various things, players and tactics," said Yakin.

"We are ready to face Italy. They are home to tactical football and I like the way they do things," said the former coach of Spartak Moscow and FC Basel.

"But we focus on preparing ourselves, our tactics, maybe even keeping them off guard," he was quoted as saying by ANTARA.

Both teams drew twice in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Switzerland finished at the top of the group while Italy failed to qualify for Qatar.

"Hopefully tomorrow night we can feel the same way. We have struggled hard to get here," continued Yakin.

Swiss goalkeeper and Inter Milan Yann Sommer believe the match will be determined by important moments.

"Our goal tomorrow is to win. It's a knockout system game where every incident will be decisive," Sommer said.