MUR TO COME FROM BRAZIL WITHOUT TALISMAN

SIMON MULLOCK

SWITZERLAND coach Murat Yakin has urged his team not to be fooled into thinking that Neymar’s injury has taken away the magic from Brazil.

Yakin’s team opened their own campaign by beating Cameroon and now face a Samba side that has been stripped of its talisman.

But he is still preparing his team to expect the worst and hope for the best. Yakin said: “If you are playing against a team who are missing a world-class talent and their best player it must pain us all in our football hearts.

“You want to play against the best when you come to the World Cup.

“But Brazil have excellent players and enough talent to construct three great teams. We must be ready to face an outstanding team – but we are also ready to show our own game against opponents who are one of the strongest in the tournament. To do that, we must focus on our own qualities and skills.”

Yakin (right) has thrown down the gauntlet for his players to prove he was right when he hailed them as the best team to ever represent Switzerland.

Former Liverpool and Stoke playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri, who now plays for MLS side Chicago Fire, said: “It is good that the coach says those words about us – and now let’s see if we can show something against a great team.”