Switzerland have now gone seven games without beating France, since a 2-1 win masterminded by current England coach Roy Hodgson in May 1992, but they will now contest a Euro knockout phase for the first time.
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The result also see the Swiss qualify for the next round for the first-ever time, finishing second with five points, but a lack of goals is a concern moving forward.
Albania won’t know if it will be one of the four third-place teams to advance until the group stage of Euro 2016 wraps up Wednesday.
Romania were sent packing with only one point. “Now other teams have to earn the right to play us”, said Petkovic.
The Tottenham stopper captained France for the 54th time, equalling a record set by his manager Didier Deschamps.
“I am not blind. We need Paul to be at his best”.
“Now a new competition is going to start for us next Sunday”, he added.
“It can happen. It means it was a fight on the pitch, with lots of duels”.
“In terms of control, we need to do better so we can avoid having to defend a bit too much”.
Switzerland dominated possession but created no clear cut chances.
Second-half substitute Dimitri Payet, who has two goals to his name already in the tournament, almost grabbed a victor with 15 minutes remaining, seeing his superb volley from an angle smash off the crossbar. First, his curling effort from 25 yards was knocked onto the top of the bar after an unconvincing save by Sommer, before the Swiss stopper was at his best to tip away Pogba’s fierce left-footed drive from an angle. The Juventus star was threatening to score as he once again, unleashed a wonderful 30-yards strike, only to be denied by the crossbar in the 17th minute. He then initiated another attack in the 58th minute.
He told UEFA.com: “Switzerland keeper (Yann) Sommer was the man of the match and, when the goalkeeper is man of the match, that shows we had chances”. We kept a clean sheet, which is good, but this was a crucial match to finish top so I decided not to change the back six because they play like clockwork. He played an important part in recycling the momentum for his team and also produced a warrior-like display after making nine tackles in the match, which is the most in the tournament so far.
Romania started brightly before losing their rhythm during the first half and Sadiku’s goal was deserved when it arrived.
De Biasi admitted that the Albanian squad face a nervous wait over the next few days.
“With a player like Payet, they’re capable of great things”, Hitzfeld said.
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“If we stay, we can cause trouble for other teams – even big teams”. We had more confidence tonight.
