Switzerland says it can handle early pressure in World Cup amid reports of dressing room tension

No. 19 Switzerland is widely favored to advance as the highest-ranked and most accomplished team in its group, but Die Nati shockingly blew its opening match in Northern California last weekend. Qatar salvaged a 1-1 draw by scoring in the fourth minute of second-half extra time.

That means Switzerland must get strong results from its next two matches to avoid an embarrassing finish for a team that still believes it has a chance to win its first knockout-stage World Cup match since 1938.

“I am optimistic,” Yakin said Wednesday night through an interpreter. “I trust my players. We have a seasoned team, and they know how to handle stress very well. ... Of course we expected a different start. We have to stay focused, but the way we played was certainly positive. We can’t buy anything with that yet, though.”

Some of that stress might be in the dressing room: Swiss media outlets reported this week that some players are unhappy with veteran captain Granit Xhaka, who sharply criticized his team — himself included — in private and in public after the opening match.

Xhaka's high-strung approach to his sport is well known from his club career in England and Germany. Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler didn't confirm the reports of dressing room strife, but said intensity shouldn't be a topic of contention at a World Cup.

“Yes, Granit is someone who expresses himself very freely, and he might be expressing critiques, but it is also very important,” Freuler said. “He is very open and he talks freely about those things. If you are too sensitive, then maybe football is not for you, because we have to examine these things and we have to be critical.”

Switzerland’s only goal against Qatar was from the penalty spot despite having 68% of the possession, putting seven shots on goal and generating chances equaling 3.20 expected goals. The Swiss realize they allowed Qatar to hang around for far too long, and it cost them dearly.

“We saw it’s very important to stay focused until the end of the match,” Yakin said. “The way we played was good if you look at the statistics, but it doesn’t buy you anything because we lost two points.”

A strong result against Bosnia is almost certainly necessary to keep alive Switzerland's dreams of World Cup success, since the Swiss' next match is against Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Bosnian team also expects a healthy fan turnout in Los Angeles.

Die Nati has lost seven straight knockout matches at the World Cup, and even getting to the knockout rounds in North America is no sure thing yet.

Bosnia opened the tournament last weekend by holding co-host Canada to a draw, putting on yet another strong performance after its charmed run to just the second World Cup berth in its history. The Dragons upset Wales and Italy in March to clinch their unlikely qualification.

“We have tremendous respect for Switzerland, but we’ve shown in the past that we can come out on top against strong opponents,” Dragons coach Sergej Barbarez said. “I hope we will confirm our form at the moment.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup