‘swiss world cup team best ever’ No distractions, Cameroon ready and focused: Song
SWITZERLAND manager Murat Yakin said on Wednesday that the current national team is the “best that ever existed” and that the country is determined to advance to the World Cup finals in Qatar.
Switzerland, who face Cameroon in their first match on Thursday, have advanced from the group stage in three of their last four tournaments, missing out only in 2010.
Yakin, who took over as coach after Switzerland reached the Euro 2020 quarterfinals last year, predicted that the country would have its best World Cup performance in Qatar, where they will also face Brazil and Serbia in Group G.
“I think that we are seeing the best Swiss national team that has ever existed,” Yakin told a news conference. “We have improved a lot and now
COACH Rigobert Song stated that his underdog eight-time World Cup campaigners are prepared and focused for the big task at the World Cup, as he predicted that Cameroon would be the latest World Cup surprise.
Cameroon is competing in their eighth World Cup, but the 1990 quarterfinalists are no longer a force — they are ranked 43rd and only just missed out on a place in Qatar.
Their most recent World Cup triumph came in 2002, and they will be heavy underdogs in Group G, which includes the higher-ranked trio of Brazil, Serbia, and Switzerland.
However, Saudi Arabia stunned Lionel Messi’s Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday, and Japan came from behind to defeat Germany by the same scoreline the next day.
Former international defender
we want to write history. We are not only here to participate. We are here to win and we want to get to the next round.”
Captain Granit Xhaka, the Arsenal midfielder, was hesitant to describe the squad in the same way, saying it would
and captain Song said that was proof Cameroon could pull off a surprise of their own, beginning against Switzerland on Thursday.
“We have seen surprises already at this World Cup, we respect our opponents, but it is on the pitch that you are going to see who is stronger,” said the 46-year-old, a Cameroon football legend known fondly as “Big Chief”.
not be fair to the 2018 Swiss team that was eliminated by Sweden in the round of 16.
He said, however, the Swiss team now was younger than it was four years ago and maybe “a little more hungry” to go far in the tournament.
“Rankings go out the window when you are on a football pitch.”
Song, a former Liverpool defender who was only made Cameroon coach in March, said his men had been able to prepare for the World Cup without the distractions of the past.
“We are very calm and pleased that the mistakes of the past have not been repeated,” he said.
“We have had no disputes about wages or money — things have changed at the football federation now that (former striker) Samuel Eto’o is president.
“He’s a hard worker, there every day to make sure the players are as prepared as possible.
“Hopefully this time we are calm, ready and focused.”
Song played at four World Cups and hopes that he can use that experience to help his squad cope with the pressure in Qatar, especially the younger players.