Co-hosts Switzerland brought the curtain down on their UEFA EURO 2008 campaign with stirring performance at St. Jakob Park, signing off with a victory, thanks to a pair of second-half goals from Hakan Yakin.

Pride restored
Though it was not enough to take them off the bottom of Group A, the victory restored pride in a side that had been left with little else to play for after opening the tournament with successive defeats.. Yakin struck on 71 minutes then again from the penalty spot with seven minutes to play to ensure victory. Prior to that a second-string Portugal team had made enough chances to win the game, although they will be back at full strength when they return here on Thursday for their quarter-final.
Changes
Only Ricardo, Paulo Ferreira, and Pepe were retained from the Portugal side which defeated the Czech Republic to reach the quarter-finals as section winners. Köbi Kuhn was starting his last match in charge of Switzerland and he brought in the ever-popular 37-year-old goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler for his first taste of UEFA EURO 2008 while midfielder Johan Vonlanthen replaced Tranquillo Barnetta.

Zuberbühler saves
Though there was nothing at stake in the group, Switzerland fans were determined to give Kuhn and his side a rousing send off and they were in full voice early on. Portugal, though, were giving more reason to cheer. Scolari’s second-string were playing for their places and Ricardo Quaresma staked his claim on seven minutes with a delightful pass flicked from behind his standing leg that Hélder Postiga headed wide. Ten minutes later Nani caught the eye, firing a low free-kick into the box to Pepe whose touch was spectacularly tipped on to the bar by Zuberbühler.

Behrami strike
It was not all one way traffic. On 19 minutes, Ricardo pushed a Gökhan Inler effort over before blocking Valon Behrami’s shot with his legs. In an entertaining game chances were coming thick and fast, and just before the half-hour Ricardo was again pressed into action to palm away Hakan Yakin’s header. At the other end, Postiga did get the ball in the net only to be flagged offside. With the latter stages of the competition in mind, Scolari brought on Jorge Ribeiro – brother of Maniche, a star of the 2004 finals – for Ferreira in the 41st minute as the Chelsea FC full-back had earlier been booked.

Woodwork
Chances continued to come and go at the start of the second half. Postiga headed over, Nani hit the post when clean through and Zuberbühler saved from Quaresma. Quite what Eusébio, watching on from the stands, made of such profligacy did not bear thinking. Portugal were almost made to pay when substitute Barnetta snapped a shot at goal from close range on the hour, but Pepe came to the rescue with a brilliant block. Four minutes later Vonlanthen had the cow bells ringing again with rasping drive that clipped the post.
Breakthrough
The breakthrough finally came on 71 minutes when Eren Derdiyok’s deft touch slipped Yakin in behind the Portugal goalkeeper and 31-year-old rifled the ball beyond Ricardo. Yakin made sure of the points with seven minutes to play with a powerfully struck penalty after Fernando Meira had impeded Barnetta’s run in the box. That left St. Jakob Park buzzing, but it is the Portuguese who live to fight another day.

Euro 2008, Group A, round three
Switzerland (4th, 0pts), Portugal (1st, 6pts)
Sunday, June 15 (2045 CET)
St Jakob Park, Basel
Konrad Plautz

And so Group A is coming to a close. It has been fairly entertaining though not all that surprising, but most definitely full of quality. Even co-hosts Switzerland - who are bottom with no points - have played some good football and looked just a player or two short of being a genuine force.
Portugal, meanwhile, have done exactly what was expected of them and picked up two wins out of two. They were really made to fight for both their results, but had the capability to put the gloss on both results at the death.
They have been clinical and are one of the only top teams who have looked relatively solid in defence. That is to their credit and to Switzerland’s detriment, as they are a side severely lacking in firepower.
What they can boast, though, is a solid midfield unit. Gökhan Inler has done his growing reputation no harm this summer, while Valon Behrami has established himself a top right-winger (or wing-back, as he plays at club level) and will surely make a big summer move following his performances in the tournament so far. Tranquillo Barnetta is lesser known but another young, exciting prospect in left wing, and Manchester City’s Gelson Fernandes, while not being so individually exceptional, complements the rest of the unit quite well.
The midfield, of course, is Portugal’s specialty. It is therefore likely that for all Switzerland’s quality in the middle, they will find themselves in a league beyond their own and be on the back foot for much of the encounter against Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men.
It may prove to be a battle between the Swiss defence and the Portuguese attack on the most part, and the co-hosts can be afforded little hope if that proves to be the case. They may be able to sit deep and hit on the break with their wide men, but even then, their first two games have shown that the finishing touch is decidedly lacking.
It is top versus bottom and picking a favourite is fairly elementary decision-making, but what we can expect is an open game with a fine atmosphere and hopefully, a lot of goals.

Switzerland

June 11
Switzerland 1-2 Turkey
(Euro 2008)

June 07
Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic
(Euro 2008)

May 30
Switzerland 3-0 Liechtenstein
(Friendly)

May 24
Switzerland 2-0 Slovakia
(Friendly)

Mar 26
Switzerland 0-4 Germany
(Friendly)

Feb 06
England 2-1 Switzerland
(Friendly)

Portugal

June 11
Portugal 3-1 Czech Republic
(Euro 2008)

June 07
Portugal 2-0 Turkey
(Euro 2008)

May 31
Portugal 2-0 Georgia
(Friendly)

Mar 26
Portugal 1-2 Greece
(Friendly)

Feb 06
Italy 3-1 Portugal
(Friendly)

Nov 21
Portugal 0-0 Finland
(ECQ)

Switzerland
Unless Köbi Kuhn decides to give some his second string a run-out in this dead-rubber, it will be by and large the same line-up for the Swiss, as Kuhn is hoping to register the first ever Swiss win at a European Championship. Eren Derdiyok, who impressed against Turkey, may be the third Swiss striker to be ruled out with injury along with captain and all-time leading scorer and Marco Streller. There is a chance Yakin may be required to lead the line and another midfielder drafted in to restore the balance.
Switzerland Probable starting line-up (4-4-1-1): Benaglio - Lichtsteiner, Muller, Senderos, Magnin - Behrami, Inler, Fernandes, Barnetta - Yakin - Derdiyok
Portugal
There are no injuries to report from the Portugese camp, but Scolari is rumoured to be resting the likes of Simao, Deco and Ronaldo.
Portugal Probable starting line-up (4-5-1): Ricardo - Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho, Ferreira - Quaresma, Moutinho, Petit, Deco, Ronaldo - Nuno Gomes