By Nick Said
FRANKFURT, Germany, June 22 (Reuters) - Switzerland coach Murat Yakin has a clean bill of health in his squad going into Sunday’s final Euro 2024 Group A fixture with hosts Germany and is looking forward to pitting his wits against counterpart Julian Nagelsmann.
Germany have already sealed their place in the last-16 and Switzerland are likely to join them unless Scotland can make up a six-goal swing on goal-difference when they face Hungary at the same time.
Yakin feels no pressure to win, saying that taking on Germany is a tantalising prospect to be enjoyed.
"All my players are available," he told reporters on Saturday. "We won’t suffer huge pressure as we don’t necessarily have to win tomorrow. We will try to bother our opponent, cause them problems and play a good match.
"It will be interesting game that we are looking forward to, a clash between me and Julian and our tactics. We want to give it our best shot.
"More than two-thirds of our squad have played (club football) in Germany and we want to perform well and make the Swiss fans proud."
Yakin praised the work of Nagelsmann and is relishing the opportunity to take him on, suggesting Switzerland will not sit back and try to contain their hosts.
"They are very strong side and Nagelsmann’s playing style is planned in very minor detail. He looks at every square centimetre of the pitch.
"We don’t want to be defensive, we want to showcase the skill of our players and take the game to them."
Sunday’s clash will decide who finishes first or second in the pool, which would in turn impact the path through the knockout rounds, but Yakin said he was not dwelling on such outcomes.
"We have analysts looking at potential opponents and I can say there are no weak teams," he said. "The games at these Euros have all been top level and all very interesting. We will be focussed on our way of playing and our tactics.
"We cannot focus on the opponents only but must also look at the way we want to play."
The slippery surface at the Frankfurt Arena has come in for criticism from several quarters with Nagelsmann suggesting it could lead to injuries but Yakin was non-committal when asked.
"We have trained for a week on a terrible pitch so it could be beneficial for us," he joked.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar)