How far will the Swiss national team go on their European Championship journey in Germany? Expert Marcel Reif explains why he believes Murat Yakin's team are capable of great things.
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- In the home game with the Nati, blue expert Marcel Reif is enthusiastic about the Nati's football and makes it clear that he has every confidence in Murat Yakin's team - in both directions.
- If the Nati's journey ends in the round of 16 against Italy, Reif does not necessarily see this as a failure: "If you are eliminated with honor and have delivered a great game, we should all be able to live with it as Swiss."
"If you want, you're also one of the secret favorites," said an impressed Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann after the 1:1 draw in the last group game against Switzerland, praising the national team to the skies. Could Murat Yakin's team really pull off the big coup?
"That's a bit over the top," replies blue Sport editor-in-chief Andreas Böni when asked about Nagelsmann's statements on the football talk show Heimspiel. "But the team has no limits. Anything is possible. That's very clear to me," emphasizes Böni.
An honorable retirement?
Blue Sport expert Marcel Reif is of the same opinion. "They can defend well, but they can also play the game well when the opportunity arises," says the 74-year-old, making it clear with a view to the knockout phase: "I don't see any pressure, I don't see any guarantee, but I can't think of any arguments that I could put forward now to explain why Switzerland don't have the slightest chance."
Neither are the Italians so outstanding, nor is Switzerland so fragile. "You don't have to set yourself limits if there aren't any," says Reif, who has high hopes for the national team.
Nevertheless, an exit in the round of 16 would not necessarily be a disappointment. "If you go out with honor and have delivered a great game, we should all be able to live with it as Swiss," says Reif, adding: "If you mess it up because you don't have the confidence, then I'd be angry."
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The round of 16 pairings
- Switzerland - Italy (June 29, 6 p.m., Berlin)
- Germany - Denmark (June 29, 9 p.m., Dortmund)
- England - Slovakia (June 30, 6 p.m., Gelsenkirchen)
- Spain - Georgia (June 30, 9 p.m., Cologne)
- France - Belgium (July 1, 18:00, Düsseldorf)
- Portugal - Slovenia (July 1, 9 p.m., Frankfurt)
- Romania - Netherlands (July 2, 18:00, Munich)
- Austria - Turkey (July 2, 9 p.m., Leipzig)
- Poland, Croatia, Albania, Scotland, Serbia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Hungary have beeneliminated.
