In the quarter-final of the European Cup which ended on July 7, Beijing time, the Swiss team unfortunately failed to beat England after a fierce penalty shootout and did not reach the quarter-finals. After the match, Swiss captain Zacha accepted the media interview, expressed his views on the game and the future outlook.
Zaka began by admitting the brutality and toughness of the match: "It was really brutal and tough, it's hard to find the right words to describe it. We can't blame the whole team because everyone did their best. A loss like this makes it all the more painful because we showed a lot of good things. But this is soccer and there is only one winner. Whether it was worth it or not is irrelevant after 120 minutes."
Zaka expressed regret but was not overly critical of the penalty shootout loss: "Unfortunately, luck was not on our side in the penalty shootout. It wasn't Akanji's fault that he conceded the penalty, and it won't be the first or the last time he'll face such a situation. But if we look back at his performances over the past few years, penalties are just a blip in his career. This experience will only make him stronger and I'm proud of him and the whole team."
In addition, Zaka revealed that he was playing with an injury: "On Monday I was diagnosed with a torn muscle fiber in my adductor, but I wanted to play very much. This week I tried everything to recover and although I had to grit my teeth, I felt the team needed me. I wanted to send a signal that I'm ready to play even if I have to endure pain. Yesterday I practiced with the team for the first time and things were okay, but today as you can see, I'm still affected in some ways."
Despite the unsatisfactory result, Zaka is confident about the team's future: "We can be proud of ourselves because we showed tenacity and team spirit. We hope the coach stays because he proved again under pressure that he is the right man for this team. He set up well in every game and we were able to achieve some goals together. This team is not going to fall apart and hopefully with this coach and these players we can get back on our feet."
Finally, Zaca said it was time to go on vacation and take a little rest: "It's time to go on vacation and I'll take a little rest to see how the adductor muscle recovers. On the one hand, I go on vacation with good feelings; on the other hand, I have some bad feelings. But overall, we can be proud of our performance."
