The first round of the group stage of the 2022 World Cup will close today (Thursday) with four matches, the first of which will see Switzerland and Cameroon meet at El Janov Stadium.
Swiss coach, Murat Yakinsounded particularly enthusiastic ahead of his opening game in the tournament: “We have one of the best Swiss teams ever. We have Granit Xhaka, who is a leader in Arsenal and the Premier League. And others are also the pillars of big teams. We are definitely younger than four years ago , and we’ll see if we’ll be even hungrier.”
Very good news also came from the coach, who confirmed that Xherdan Shaqiri will start against Cameroon despite the fact that he has not played regularly since the MLS season ended in early October. Jan Sommer, the goalkeeper of the national team, will be fit after overcoming an ankle injury.
Switzerland came into the tournament having not lost a match in the qualifiers, winning four of their last five appearances at the World Cup, andJacka granite Sounds calm: “I had more pressure in my career. I also want to enjoy this tournament.”
About Brill Ambolo, who was born in Cameroon, and where he still has family, Xhaka said: “It’s a very special thing for him. Brill is a great kid and has a lot of respect for Cameroon, but he plays for Switzerland. We’ll be happy if he scores.”
On the other side, Cameroon is the African team that has made it to the World Cup the most ever, and the coach Rigober Songclarified: “We are ready, and we are just waiting for the opening whistle to show what we are capable of. We want to continue the process we started a long time ago, the ranks are irrelevant, the game is won on the field. We respect our opponents, but we are not rookies either and know what awaits us and where we are going We will do everything to get the three points and we have no doubt that we can do it.”