Switzerland manager Murat Yakin expressed his delight at breaking the country’s penalty “curse” after beating Colombia in a shootout Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Substitute Rubén Vargas scored the winning penalty in Vancouver, British Columbia, following a heroic save from Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to deny Cucho Hernández after earlier misses from Colombia’s Davinson Sánchez and Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji.
It is the first time Switzerland — who held Colombia to a 0-0 draw to force penalties at BC Place — have won a shootout at a World Cup, having lost out on their only other previous attempt against Ukraine in 2006.
Switzerland had won only one of their past six penalty shootouts in all competitions (against France at Euro 2020), with their triumph over Colombia securing passage to the quarterfinals of a World Cup for the first time since 1954.
“You’re kind of in the flow and don’t quite know what to take in,” Yakin told Swiss broadcaster SRF after the game. “It took an incredible fight. Cleverness and patience, too. And then the penalty shootout at the end, we finally broke the curse. I’m incredibly happy for everyone — the players, the staff, and the fans at home.
“Just unbelievable emotions. The feeling during the decisive penalty is fantastic, indescribable. A huge compliment to Kobel as well; he’s playing a fantastic tournament. Nobody wants to hear my game plan, but that’s exactly how it worked out.”
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Reflecting on his penalty miss, Switzerland defender Akanji said: “I told Muri that was the last penalty I’d ever take. It was disastrous. I changed my mind at the last moment. The oldest rule says you shouldn’t change your mind. I went for it, then I slipped a bit and the ball went four meters over the goal.
“I’m incredibly proud of how the team reacted. We didn’t play that well — especially offensively, we were lacking a lot. But we were compact as a team.”
Switzerland have now reached the quarterfinals at three of their past four major tournaments, only failing to do so at the 2022 World Cup when they were eliminated in the round of 16.
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Tuesday’s victory means Yakin’s side will now face reigning champions Argentina at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday, where they will come up against the prolific Lionel Messi.
“That’s a great reward,” captain Granit Xhaka said. “Goal No. 1 has been achieved, but when you’re in the quarterfinals, the hunger is even greater than before. Now comes the big challenge with one of the greatest players.”
