Xherdan Shaqiri got the Swiss back into the game against Scotland with his wonderful shot. Teammates and coaches rave about the exceptional player.
"Why are you scoring?" This question first flashed through Yann Sommer's mind when he saw Xherdan Shaqiri shoot directly in the 26th minute instead of taking the ball on and off. A second later, when the ball was in the net, the Swiss goalkeeper's next thought was: "That's Shaq. That's just Shaq." Once again, it was his magic foot that made the Swiss cheer.
"He lives for moments like this," said coach Murat Yakin about Shaqiri, whom he had left on the substitutes' bench in the first game. Once again, he made the difference with the right instinct. "If he had taken the ball, he would have lost important time. Instead, he does everything right and makes the right decision at the right moment."
It was thanks to "simply Shaq" that Switzerland were at least able to take a point from the duel with Scotland. Because no more goals were scored after that. The 1-1 draw may be less than Yakin's team had originally hoped for, but the one point still brings Switzerland very close to the round of 16.
The Swiss coach emphasized that his team had not yet definitely qualified for the round of 16. Nevertheless, the starting position for the last group game against Germany is more comfortable with four points already in the account. "Since we don't necessarily need a win, we can go into the game without any worries. We're looking forward to this game."
Before that, however, his players would need some rest. The Scots "demanded everything" from his team, said Yakin. "Their pride was hurt after the first game. They showed a reaction against us." According to Yakin, it was important that his team reacted quickly to falling behind. "The response from 'Shaq' was important. Otherwise it would have cost us a lot of energy to keep running back."
And Shaqiri himself? He showed his usual self-confidence. When the 32-year-old was asked to describe the scene from his point of view, he said: "I thought I'd put the ball into the short corner of the goal and see what happens. Then, of course, it was a perfect pass, up there on the left." He was proud of his tally, which was his 32nd international goal and his 10th goal in the finals (European Championship and World Cup). But now he is already looking forward to the "acid test" against Germany.