UEFA EURO 2008™ co-hosts Switzerland left the tournament with heads held high after beating Group A winners Portugal in Basel last night to send off retiring coach Köbi Kuhn in style.

Belated win
Losses to the Czech Republic and Turkey had put the quarter-finals, and even third place in the pool, out of Swiss reach, but two unanswered Hakan Yakin goals at least secured the country’s first UEFA European Championship finals victory at the ninth attempt.

‘Some good’
For captain Ludovic Magnin, that was small consolation. “This victory doesn’t lessen the disappointment of elimination,” he said. “When you look at the other team that qualified [Turkey], you can see that we really had the means, in our first two games, to get out of this group. But you cannot rewrite history. The only opportunity we had [on Sunday] was to leave the tournament with heads held high, as the first Switzerland team to win a European Championship game. It was a very small consolation but it does us some good.”

Kuhn praise
The VfB Stuttgart left-back, 29, also hailed the outgoing coach, who led Switzerland to three successive major tournaments – a first for the Nati. “We have had seven extraordinary years with Mr Kuhn,” Magnin said. “We played at EURO [2004] in Portugal, the [FIFA] World Cup in Germany and now this tournament in Switzerland. I don’t think this sequence will be easy to replicate in the future. For all the players, our relationship with him has been beyond that of player and coach. Above all he is a gentleman.”

Grichting thinking
Magnin’s defensive colleague Stéphane Grichting was already looking to the future, although the 29-year-old has yet to announce whether he will be available to Kuhn’s successor Ottmar Hitzfeld. “I haven’t made a decision about my international career. I need a holiday to think about it,” he said. “Ottmar Hitzfeld will bring us experience, but I think we have shown in these three games that we are at the right level – we had three good games but just didn’t get the right result. We need to work on that to be better next time.”

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.”

Köbi Kuhn was “touched” by the show of gratitude his players made when they unfurled a banner saying “Merci Köbi” after the 2-0 defeat of Portugal that signalled the end of his seven-year spell as Switzerland coach. His mood contrasted with that of counterpart Luiz Felipe Scolari who said he had “made a mistake” not replacing all eleven players in his side, rather than eight, for this Group A finale. Fernando Meira, Miguel, Paulo Ferreira and Jorge Ribeiro were all booked, leaving Scolari concerned about the impact that might have in the knockout phase.

Köbi Kuhn, Switzerland coach
Of course I am extremely pleased [with the win] but there is also nostalgia because in the first two matches we deserved at least one point and, the way it looks now, we might have qualified for the quarter-finals. We are out but the team were able to make a gift to the fans who have always believed in them. We were excellent and I think this team will remain in their hearts. I didn’t know anything about the banner but was touched to receive this expression of gratitude. During my time in charge we have been through some dire straits but, all in all, it has been a wonderful period. The legacy that [new coach] Ottmar Hitzfeld will find is a respectable one. We have a very young team but also some experienced players. There is room for improvement and once they have more experience, they will be even better. I wish Hitzfeld all the best. Now I will just be a fan of Switzerland and I would like to receive the kind of gift the players gave to the crowd tonight.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal
I was making a calculation [about the changes from the Czech Republic game] and wanted to see who had played most during the season and who had been injured. I was trying to help the players. We played as I expected and had a few opportunities but we didn’t get the goal we wanted. Later we will see the consequences [of my selection]. I should have replaced eleven players rather than eight. We ran too many risks by putting in three or four players who had played in the previous games. In the next phase [bookings] carry on – only at the semi-finals do they get taken away – so we are taking chances now and I didn’t need to do that. I told my players not to complain, not to make any mistakes, because they would get cautions. I made a mistake because I should have substituted all eleven players. I didn’t change the tactics though. We had a striker [Hélder Postiga] who played more or less like Nuno Gomes. What we didn’t have was a midfielder like Deco. But even with all the changes, we played fairly well and created a few opportunities, though we didn’t take them. We could have gone to 4-4-2 but we decided to stick to the basics.

Hakan Yakin said there was “no better way to end” Switzerland’s campaign at UEFA EURO 2008™ after he ensured that outgoing coach Köbi Kuhn signed off with a victory by scoring both goals in the 2-0 defeat of Portugal.

Positive response
The BSC Young Boys forward opened the scoring in Basel with a close-range finish after 71 minutes before making sure of Switzerland’s first-ever win on the UEFA European Championship stage when he converted a penalty 12 minutes later. While his goals earned him the Carlsberg Man of the Match award, he was quick to commend his colleagues for their positive response here after the bitter disappointment of defeats against the Czech Republic and Turkey. “First of all I have to compliment the team because we played very well three times,” said the 31-year-old. “We lost twice unluckily but in the match tonight we showed we’ve kept our spirits up and we were comfortable 2-0 winners. It was a great farewell for Köbi Kuhn, our coach, and for the fans who stuck by us during the past week. There is no better way to end.”

Olsen praise
Denmark national coach Morten Olsen, who as a member of the UEFA Technical Team helped select Yakin for the Man of the Match award, praised Switzerland for their “fighting spirit” in claiming this consolatory win in Group A. “They played for the fantastic home fans,” he said. “They had been unlucky in two games and could have had a couple more points. They had had chances and today they used them – that was the difference. The Swiss performance was very good in the second half and there were a couple of candidates for Man of the Match but if you score two goals, that makes the difference. The first goal was a very good attack and a good finish by Yakin.”