Bullish Murat Yakin says Switzerland have nothing to fear when they face Gareth Southgate's men in Dusseldorf … even though they have not beaten England for 43 years.
Yakin’s tactics were widely acclaimed after his team dismantled Italy in the last 16 and that has clearly put the coach and his players in a confident mood ahead of the quarter-final tie.
He said: “We are in good shape. We have a lot of self-confidence and we have shown that in several games that we can play against big teams. We played against the defending champions, we played well against the hosts.
"We will cause problems for England.”
The Swiss manager confirmed that Granit Xhaka will line up in Dusseldorf after suffering a thigh injury scare in the 2-0 win over Italy and backed the ex-Arsenal midfielder to cause problems for familiar opponents. Yakin went on: “Granit has a lot of experience. He is fit and he trained with the team. I count on him 100 percent and I think he will play a great game.”
Xhaka is not the only Swiss player who is very familiar with the opposition and Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar is wary of the threat posed by so many England players. Schar said: “It’s not just Harry Kane that we have to stop. We have to stop the entire English team. They have a lot of quality. We know how dangerous and difficult it can be but we have been good at defending during this tournament.”
A defeat to the Swiss would almost certainly be Gareth Southgate’s last game in charge of England and Schar is hoping the Football Association will not come knocking on Eddie Howe’s door.
Schar said: “I hope he will stay at Newcastle. If you see the work he’s done over the last few years, I think he has a lot of quality and he knows how to handle big clubs. I’m really hopeful he stays.”