INGLEWOOD, California, June 17 (Reuters) - Switzerland are determined to put their opening World Cup disappointment of being held by Qatar behind them when they face Bosnia & Herzegovina on Thursday, with coach Murat Yakin calling on his side to be more ruthless after letting victory slip.
The Swiss entered the tournament with high expectations but were left frustrated after drawing 1-1 with Qatar in their opening Group B game on Saturday despite creating a host of chances and spending long periods
in control.
They were leading 1-0 through a 17th minute Breel Embolo penalty but conceded a Miro Muheim own goal in stoppage time.
“We expected a different outcome,” Yakin told reporters on Wednesday. “The way we played was good. If you look at the statistics, it is helpful. However, it doesn’t buy you anything because we did lose two points.”
Rather than dwelling on the setback, Yakin has challenged his side to learn quickly from the mistakes that proved costly.
“We want to be better,” he said. “We need to work on the efficiency. We weren’t efficient enough. But at the end of the day, when you are in the lead, you also have to work on the defence.”
Yakin noted that the late goal conceded against Qatar followed patterns that have surfaced before, including in recent friendlies.
“We need to be smarter. We need to keep the ball in possession,” he explained. “The way we conceded goals recently, also in friendly matches and also in the match against Qatar, was due to similar reasons.”
Midfielder Remo Freuler admitted the mood was subdued immediately after the Qatar draw but said the squad had already shifted their focus to Bosnia.
“After the opener, we expected more,” Freuler reflected. “We were disappointed indeed. But one day after that, we had to assess the match and learn from it, and then we had to prepare, because four days later there's a second very important match.”
Bosnia arrive after earning a 1-1 draw against co-hosts Canada and have impressed the Swiss with their physicality and organisation, but Yakin believes the outcome will depend largely on his own team.
With two group matches remaining, Switzerland know another stumble would complicate their path to the knockout stage. For Yakin, the objective remains clear.
“We want to remain in the tournament. We want to reach the knockouts,” he insisted. “This is our expectation of ourselves.”
(Reporting by Hatem Maher, Editing by Ken Ferris)
