Switzerland does not send people to accompany Ronaldo

* Portugal - Switzerland: 2pm on 7/12 on MetaSports.

"Switzerland is as strong as one," Yakin said at a pre-match press conference. "We know Ronaldo can decide the game. We can't let Ronaldo have space, but we won't send people to watch him. We will reduce Ronaldo's influence as a team."

Ronaldo has fallen short this season, with just 3 goals in 16 games in all competitions for Man Utd. In the three group stage matches of the 2022 World Cup, the Portuguese striker also scored a goal from the penalty spot in the 3-2 win over Ghana and has yet to provide an assist. Statistics firm Sofascore also ranked the 37-year-old striker as one of the worst players in the group stage.

However, Xherdan Shaqiri still praised Ronaldo as one of the two best players in the world, next to Lionel Messi, and could score at any second of the game. The 31-year-old midfielder also shared the same opinion with coach Yakin, emphasizing that Switzerland must try to play together, and pay attention to other quality Portuguese players, not just Ronaldo.

In the last 6 encounters with Portugal, Switzerland won three matches. But Ronaldo was absent from all three of those Swiss victories. The two teams met in the UEFA Nations League in June, when Portugal won 4-0 in Lisbon, then Switzerland won 1-0 a few days later in Geneva. Yakin declined to compare, saying the two teams have both changed a lot in the past six months, with different players and operations.

In the history of the World Cup, Switzerland's best achievement was in the quarterfinals of 1934 and 1938. After that, they only reached the 1/8 round in 1994, 2006, 2014 and 2018. Yakin is confident to join Switzerland. Si made history: "We knew we had only one chance. We had to go into the game with courage and confidence, with composure and with the right emotions on the pitch."

The 48-year-old coach wants to settle the game in the full 90 minutes, rather than extending it to extra time or penalty shootouts. Yakin also confirmed Switzerland will have the strongest force, when Yann Sommer and Nico Elvedi - two players absent from the match against Serbia - have recovered from illness and Fabian Schar has also returned to training in the past few days.