THE VIEW FROM SWITZERLAND
“Everything is possible with this team. Switzerland have a squad that can beat nearly everyone on their day and a coach that knows his tactics. But the main question is whether key players will turn up in good form. One of them is Xherdan Shaqiri. Will he be in good shape to bring in his extra quality?”
Steven Krucker, journalist at SRF Sport
“Since the World Cup, Petkovic has imposed a new system designed to maximise the qualities of his best players and dominate games. Euro 2020 will be a strong test of this ambition. Xhaka dictates the tempo, Shaqiri brings the spark and this team have the ambition.”
David Lemos, presenter at RTS
Born in present-day Bosnia, Vladimir Petkovic, is now in his seventh year as Switzerland coach. During his early coaching days, spent in the Swiss lower divisions, he also worked part-time in a Caritas charity shop. He made his mark by taking Young Boys to two successive second-place finishes in the league.
After stints with Samsunspor and Sion, he joined Lazio where he won the Coppa Italia in his first season. But he angered president Claudio Lotito by announcing he would coach Switzerland once his contract expired and was duly sacked.