Photo: AFP
Cologne: With a 1-1 draw against Scotland on Wednesday, Xherdan Shaqiri's incredible strike put Switzerland just one win away from a spot in the round of 16. Scott McTominay's early goal, which required a strong deflection off Swiss defender Fabian Schar, put Murat Yakin's team behind early.
However, Shaqiri, a former Liverpool forward, scored one of the most impressive goals of the competition thus far, using a fantastic curler from 20 yards to punish Anthony Ralston's terrible back pass.
With honours even in Cologne, the Swiss are second in Group A with four points, two behind Germany, which defeated Hungary 2-0 earlier on Wednesday, AFP reported.
Although they are not mathematically guaranteed to go to the knockout stages, Switzerland, who won their opening match 3-1 over Hungary, are in a great position going into their final match against Germany.
"Shaqiri proved tonight that he lives and breathes for moments like that," Yakin said.
"He really deserves that magical moment. He did the only thing he could do with that wonderful strike.
"It's still very open. We will do everything we can to make it out of the group.”
Scotland is still in the running to make it to the main tournament's knockout stages for the first time, as the top four teams in third place advance to the round of 16. A valiant performance by Steve Clarke's team removed the sting of a terrible 5-1 defeat to Germany in the tournament opener. Although Scotland has only won once in their previous 11 games, they still have a chance to make history by qualifying for the round of sixteen if they defeat Hungary with a big goal difference.
"It was a good reaction to a disappointing night against Germany," Clarke said. "Heart-breaking moment for Ralston but if it falls to any other Swiss player I don't think they score.
"I believe if we get three points against Hungary, we'll go to the next stage. We're a good team and we're still alive.”