Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri said this Sunday (27) that Switzerland face Brazil with more experience and balance than they had four years ago. On that occasion, the teams also faced each other in the group stage of the World Cup, with a 1-1 tie.
This Monday’s game (28) will be the third between the teams in the history of the tournament – in 1950, there was another tie.
“It was a positive result,” Shaqiri said of the 2018 game. “We’re aware of what we can do and I think we’ve made progress. We’ve got more experience and we’ve been challenged by bigger teams since then.”
Shaqiri, who is representing Switzerland at their fourth consecutive World Cup, said the Swiss felt capable of getting a better result against Brazil this time around.
Switzerland have reached the knockout stage in three of their last four World Cups. Brazil, undefeated in the qualifiers for Qatar, has won the World Cup five times and is considered the favourite.
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said Neymar’s absence with an ankle injury had had no impact on Swiss preparation or tactics.
“I think this team has enough excellent players to build three teams,” Yakin said. “The challenge is not going to get any easier for us.”
Switzerland beat Cameroon 1-0 in their opening match. For Shaqiri, the team will not be able to waste any goal opportunities if they want to have a chance to defeat the Brazilians as well.
“If you don’t have a lot of opportunities, you really need to take them,” he said. “That’s what we want to do tomorrow.”
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