{"id":408152,"date":"2024-07-01T00:29:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T00:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=408152"},"modified":"2024-07-01T03:08:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T03:08:54","slug":"i-have-the-feeling-star-fuelling-unthinkable-swiss-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=408152","title":{"rendered":"'I have the feeling': Star fuelling unthinkable Swiss dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

IN GERMANY:<\/strong> Switzerland's dominant victory over a lacklustre Italian outfit came as a surprise to many with Murat Yakin's team outclassing Italy in their round of 16 clash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leading the Swiss assault was inspirational captain Granit Xhaka whose amazing year continued, as he controlled the central midfield alongside Remo Freuler.<\/p>\n

Xhaka's wonderous left foot switched play effortlessly during a virtuous display as he left the Italians scrambling to control a rampant Swiss attack.<\/p>\n

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Player of the match Ruben Vargas reiterated post-match the importance of Xhaka to the Swiss team and that he encouraged the 25-year-old to grab the second half.<\/p>\n

"A little bit before the second half started, Granit said to me 'please score a goal'. A few seconds later I found the ball at my feet and I did what Granit said and shot," said Vargas.<\/p>\n

Xhaka's record 129 caps for his nation highlights an individual who has been at the very heartbeat of a Swiss team which has encapsulated the battled hardened energy of their captain.<\/p>\n

Xhaka, whose own career has been punctuated with self-doubt and criticism at club level especially at his time in England with Arsenal<\/a>, has been able to overcome these doubters in a year which has seen him help Bayer Leverkusen win the German title and cup double undefeated.<\/p>\n

\"Granit<\/p>\n

Xhaka's maturity has shone through both at club and international level with the 31-year- old happy to carry the burden of expectation. His ability to lead both with his words and actions makes him a natural leader and one that is highly valued by both his managers and teammates.<\/p>\n

"I have the feeling that we are not finished yet," Xhaka told press after Switzerland's success over Italy.<\/p>\n

Switzerland's run to the quarter finals has many experts believing that they are a genuine dark horse at this year's Euro's, with former England<\/a> captain Alan Shearer quick to praise the Swiss performance over Italy on the BBC.<\/p>\n

"They were absolutely fantastic. They looked really fit and scored two fantastic goals, and they deserve their quarter-final spot," said Shearer.<\/p>\n

The Swiss though are determined not to be distracted by the outside noise and are firmly focused on themselves.<\/p>\n

\"UEFA<\/p>\n

"We are focused on ourselves, we don't want to be distracted by our opponents," Yakin emphasised after the Italy game.<\/p>\n

Whatever lays ahead for this Swiss team at this year's Euros, one thing is for sure, Xhaka has firmly etched himself into the hearts of all Swiss supporters.<\/p>\n

For the thousands that have made the journey to support the team, they have in Xhaka a captain and leader whose own determination and drive have them believing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IN GERMANY: Switzerland's dominant victory over a lacklustre Italian outfit came as a surprise to many with Murat Yakin's team outclassing Italy in their round […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":408154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408152"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408157,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408152\/revisions\/408157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/408154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}