Swiss player previewing the game against Portugal: “This is not the League of Nations” – News
Swiss footballer Xherdan Shaqiri said that the meeting with Portugal, on Tuesday, in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup, will be different from the two recent clashes between the two sisters for the League of Nations.
“I think it’s going to be a totally different game because it’s not a ‘friendly’ game, this isn’t the League of Nations. The pressure is high and now it’s important to understand how the players deal with it,” said Shaqiri, on the sidelines of the Swiss training, in Doha.
Portugal and Switzerland faced each other twice in 2022, for the League of Nations, with Portugal thrashing at home by 4-0, on June 5, in Alvalade, and losing by 1-0 in Geneva, a week later, the fault of a goal in the opening minute by Haris Seferovic, a player loaned by Benfica to Galatasaray.
For Shaqiri, currently at the service of the Americans from Chicago Fire, the Swiss need to make a “great performance” on Tuesday, in Lusail, to be able to repeat the success of the last meeting.
“Portugal are a good team and are favorites in this game, but we know our qualities and we will try to create many problems for them”, said the Swiss player.
Shaqiri was the scorer of Switzerland’s first goal in the decisive match of the third day of the group stage with Serbia (3-2), which allowed the Swiss to finish in second place in Group F, with the same six points as the first, Brazil .
“We have to have a special performance from the whole team because we are Switzerland and we don’t have ‘Cristianos’,” said the 31-year-old, adding: “When we act as a team we succeed, and that applies to this game.”
According to the former Basel, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Stoke City, Liverpool and Lyon player, the secret will be the union of all team members.
“We have to stick together. If we’re all at a high level, we’ll have a chance of qualifying”, concluded Xherdan Shaqiri.
The meeting between Portugal and Switzerland, the last of the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup, takes place on Tuesday, at 7 pm (in Lisbon), in Lusail.