Shaqiri apologises after Switzerland's humbling defeat to Portugal
Switzerland exited the World Cup with a dismal last-16 defeat, completely outclassed by a Portugal side who had left Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
Xherdan Shaqiri apologised for Switzerland's performance in their 6-1 loss to Portugal, crediting their opponents but saying: "We have to do better."
Switzerland exited the World Cup with a dismal last-16 defeat, completely outclassed by a Portugal side who had left Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
Goncalo Ramos replaced Ronaldo and scored one of two first-half goals before completing a hat-trick in a rampant second half.
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Murat Yakin's men were never in the contest, only reducing the arrears when Manuel Akanji bundled in from a corner to make it 4-1.
"We are all disappointed, the whole team," Shaqiri said afterwards. "I just want to apologise to all the people in Switzerland, because we were not at our best today.
"We lost the game already in the first half against Portugal, who are a very good team. You saw the kind of goal they can score. With all respect, we have to do better.
"We have to learn from our mistakes, and if we are behind 2-0 against Portugal, it's always very, very difficult to come back. We just were not at our best today, from everybody."
Yakin had changed system, starting with a three-man defence, but he did not believe this was the problem for his side.
"We had a clear plan, we have practised it, we also had test games, the team was familiar with the system," the Switzerland coach said. "We tried to put pressure on using the flanks, but unfortunately it didn't work.
"Ronaldo or not, our players are able to play in every position. Yes, our opponents got a good start in the game, we saw many things not work out for us. There's nothing we could've done today."
Shaqiri did not dwell on Ronaldo's omission, indicating the depth of talent Portugal have at their disposal.
"It's the whole team," he said. "You saw today: he was on the bench, and they scored a lot of goals, too. The quality is there from the whole team, and we saw this today."
The winger added: "Portugal is for me a favourite and also was before the tournament. They have a good team, a quality team, and we will see in the end how far they're going to go.
"You saw today, in the offensive, they are very good. They can go very far."
