Switzerland’s campaign may have ended on a high note with a 2-0 win against Portugal, but outgoing coach Köbi Kuhn and his men were left ruing their failure to get to the quarter-finals.

Small consolation
Two goals from Hakan Yakin in Basel earned Switzerland victory in their third and final Group A game – their first win at a UEFA European Championship – but was only small consolation after the 1-0 opening-game defeat against the Czech Republic and subsequent last-gasp loss to Turkey had condemned them to an early exit. “This win was one of the most beautiful moments in my career, even though it counted for nothing,” said Kuhn after the Portugal game, before adding: “It is painful to see that a point against Turkey would have been enough to make it to the quarter-finals. The team was capable of qualifying for the knockout games.”

Miserable luck
Given the setbacks Switzerland suffered, the fact that they came so close was some achievement. Several players pulled out before the tournament, pivotal midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta never really found his form after recovering from an ankle injury while Swiss captain and all-time top scorer Alexander Frei lasted just 43 minutes of the opening game before suffering partially torn ligaments in his left knee. Fellow striker Marco Streller was then sidelined by a lingering groin injury, leaving 19-year-old Eren Derdiyok as Kuhn’s only recognised forward. “I have always said that we are lacking the forwards capable of playing at such level, and I haven’t changed my mind,” said the coach.

‘We failed’
Although neither the Czechs nor Turkey could say they dominated in their wins against the co-hosts, vice-captain Ludovic Magnin who took the armband following Frei’s injury, insisted this did not dilute the disappointment. “It’s too easy to say we played well but got knocked out. We lost two matches, so obviously something was lacking. We failed. We were not here to play well, but to win games.” Long-serving goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler, who made his final international appearance against Portugal, added: “The feeling we are left with is regret, to be honest. With this team, we could have done more. We have been too naïve, whether it is in attack or in defence.”

‘Step back’
Hakan Yakin emerged with his reputation enhanced, scoring all three of the Swiss goals, but the 31-year-old feels the ‘Nati’ remain a work in progress. “We took a nice step forward from Portugal 2004 to Germany 2006 [where Switzerland reached the last 16], but we took a step back from there to the EURO on home soil. We let lots of things slip.” Nonetheless, Kuhn’s replacement Ottmar Hitzfeld will have seen some encouraging signs. Philippe Senderos and Patrick Müller impressed in central defence, Gökhan Inler shone in the holding role while fellow midfielder Valon Behrami also did well. Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, 24, appears a star for the future.

Kuhn’s legacy
Whether former FC Bayern München coach Hitzfeld can do better with these players – and indeed bring improved performances from highly-regarded right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner – is the big issue as Switzerland look ahead to the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Group 9 features Israel, Moldova, Luxembourg, Greece and Latvia, and could be winnable for the Swiss, though Barnetta feels Hitzfeld has a tough act to follow after Kuhn’s seven years in charge. “Ottmar Hitzfeld brings lots of experience with him,” said the Bayer 04 Leverkusen player. “We are looking to working with him, but it will not be easy. Köbi Kuhn has given us a great time.”

The UEFA EURO 2008™ catchphrase may be Expect Emotions but not even the most pessimistic of Switzerland fans could have envisaged plummeting such depths of despair after only two games of the tournament.

Heartache
The serious injury suffered by captain Alexander Frei was perhaps the harbinger of doom as Köbi Kuhn’s co-hosts lost, arguably unluckily, to the Czech Republic in Saturday’s Group A curtain-raiser. But at least fans of the Nati held on to hope going into Wednesday’s match against another point-less team, Turkey. Coming out of it, though, they had nothing but a lost dream and a guaranteed wooden spoon in the group. Arda Turan’s 92nd-minute knife through the heart summed up the Swiss campaign – deflecting, decisively, off the heels of defender Patrick Müller and over goalkeeper Diego Benaglio. A slice of awful luck.

Electric atmosphere
Having picked themselves up off the canvas following the false start at the weekend, Kuhn’s willing young side toughed it out in difficult conditions at St. Jakob-Park. You might not readily associate the Swiss with grit, but an uninitiated observer would have benefited from seeing this rousing sequel to the Nati’s first-day nightmare. The shiver-inducing atmosphere prompted by the national anthems was maintained after kick-off, alone dispelling misconceptions about the Swiss football stage. Passionless? Sterile? Not a chance. Yes, the stadium’s designated away sections were warmed up by a Turkish DJ pre-match – a nod to the fact Basel houses the country’s largest Turkish population. But the mood was electric throughout.

Waterlogged
Even the weather joined in. Hot sunshine gave way to sheeting rain early in the first half to enhance the epic quality of the contest. The VIP spectators who were sent scurrying for cover by the storm clouds missed an impromptu ‘Son et lumière’. On the pitch, the players of both sides tried to keep their splashing feet as well as their heads, although it was the Swiss, in the opening period, who were winning dirty. Hakan Yakin’s 32nd-minute goal was about as clean as the mud-soaked shorts and socks of a home team who dominated under the deluge. One Switzerland player of Turkish extract, Eren Derdiyok, supplied another – via an assist from a puddle – and Yakin did the rest.

Lady Luck
Feed the Yak and he will score. Except he failed to when presented with a similar opportunity soon after. Maybe Lady Luck had withdrawn the temporary loan of her support. The majority of the 39,730 crowd kept up theirs, but that was not enough to prevent Semih Şentürk heading the equaliser soon after half-time. Arda had missed from an identical position before the break. The same player eventually made amends with a devastating late strike which interrupted irrevocably the promise of Kuhn’s EURO team. The Swiss roll never started.

Hamit Altıntop has hope for Turkey’s Group A finale after their 2-1 win against Switzerland, saying: “If we play like we did in the second half, there is nothing to fear.”

Second-half recovery
A goal down at half-time after Hakan Yakin put the co-hosts ahead amid a fearsome downpour in Basel, Turkey restructured at half-time, bringing on Mehmet Topal and Turkish Süper Lig top scorer Semih Şentürk. They were rewarded as Semih scored their 57th-minute equaliser before midfielder Arda Turan grabbed all three points with a deflected winning goal in added time.

Rain supreme
“We started the way we wanted but then it started to rain,” Altıntop told euro2008.com. “Before the match, [Fatih Terim] told us to play short passes, but that is very hard on that kind of pitch. We responded well, especially in the second half, so I think we are on the right track. With this morale boost, I hope we can show our best football and get the result from the third game against the Czech Republic. If we play like we did in the second half, there is nothing to fear.”

Morale flagging
Mehmet Topal said that a half-time team talk had helped Turkey pull back from the brink. “In my opinion, after the Swiss goal our morale was flagging, but our coach said: ‘Don’t give up.’ And we did it, we didn’t give up until the final whistle. Our goals were amazing. We are very happy to have taken three points from the co-host team.”

Never say die
Captain in the absence of the injured Emre Belözoğlu, Nihat Kahveci set up Semih’s equaliser before being replaced by Kazım Kazım five minutes from time. “We knew it would be a tough game and the rain complicated our task, but we didn’t give up,” he said. “We know how to recover from difficult situations. We did it in qualifying too, and we will do it again.”

Shoot-out permutation
With Turkey and the Czechs now level on points with identical goals for and against, their meeting in Geneva is crucial. The winners will reach the quarter-finals, and the losers will be out, while a draw would see the last-eight position decided on a penalty shoot-out. Kazım Kazım said: “To be fair, they had some chances to score, but this is football – we scored the winner in added time. Now everything is in our hands. If we win, we go through – if the Czechs win, they go through. We will see.”