Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka said on Friday that he has a good relationship with coach Murat Yakin, and played down reports of disagreements over strategy during a poor qualifying campaign marred by mistakes in the final minutes.
Switzerland faces dark horse Hungary in its opening Group A match in Cologne on Saturday, and needs a strong display to dispel fears that its impressive record in qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament may end suddenly.
Switzerland sneaked into the 2024 European Championship in second place in its group after a campaign in which it only beat Andorra in its last eight matches and squandered a late lead against opponents including Israel and Kosovo.
The results led to reports of tension between Yakin and his players and calls from fans for his dismissal.
“We are mature enough to explain everything,” Xhaka said in a press conference. “So I had a great relationship with the coach in the last six or eight months. It was better than the last.”
“He came to see me a few times… We had dinner together. We drank a lot of wine together. So everything is going well. We are both ambitious and want to be successful for ourselves and the team.
“We are happy to have a coach who listens to us and wants to talk to us,” Xhaka added.
Midfielder Xhaka, one of Switzerland’s key players, has gained a reputation for his fiery temper and occasional tantrums when he is substituted.
The 31-year-old has appeared since his departure from Arsenal and played a pivotal role in Bayer Leverkusen winning the German League title this season.
Switzerland has reached the knockout stages in the last five major tournaments, but Xhaka will not depend on his team’s chances of qualifying to sixth place from a group that includes Hungary, Scotland and Germany, the host country.
“We know that I don’t like to talk with hypotheses and hypotheses,” he said.
He added: “We would like to give an important signal tomorrow with a good match, and try to win all the group stage matches.”
