Football matches to take place this weekend. - "Dissatisfied Swiss voice concerns regarding turf"
Switzerland kicked off the last phase of their European Championship (EM) preparation on Monday, but the German opposition is far from impressed with the field conditions in Stuttgart. National team manager Pierluigi Tami commented after a public inspection that had 3,800 fans in attendance, "The quality of the grass is noticeably inadequate." They are currently looking for alternative solutions. UEFA, the European football governing body, has pledged to do everything possible to make improvements, says the 62-year-old.
The artificial turf has uneven patches, revealed Swiss press spokesman Adrian Arnold. This issue has been known since the weekends. Nevertheless, the players, as per Tami, were negatively taken aback by the situation.
Captain Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen, the German champion and cup winner, led the Swiss team. Before moving into their team quarters close to Stuttgart's TV tower, they were welcomed on the pitch by Stuttgart's mayor, Frank Nopper (CDU), and Baden-Württemberg's prime minister, Winfried Kretschmann (Greens).
Their first game in Group A will be against Hungary in Cologne on Saturday. They'll meet the hosts Germany on June 23 in Frankfurt for the last round of the group stage.
Apart from Xhaka, two former Bundesliga professionals are the backbone of the Swiss team: goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who now plays for Inter Milan after stints at Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Bayern Munich, and defender Manuel Akanji, who switched from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City in 2022.
Former Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria, recovering from an injury, trained with his teammates on Monday. Forward Steven Zuber, who has played for Hoffenheim, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt, remained at the hotel due to calf issues.
Insights into the Swiss national team's strategy for the 2024 European Championship.
