SWITZERLAND captain Granit Xhaka insists they must win the return game with the Republic of Ireland in Geneva next month to stand any chance of reaching the Euro 2020 finals - and says they deserved more than a 1-1 draw in Dublin on Thursday night.
Fabian Schar's cool finish on 74 minutes looked like being the difference between the Group D rivals before David McGoldrick grabbed a dramatic equaliser with five minutes of normal time remaining.
The draw leaves the Republic top of the group with three games remaining – against Georgia (a), Switzerland (a) and Denmark (h).
“From the start to the end we were the better team,” said the Arsenal man. “I think that’s why Ireland are happier than us. They won one point, but you saw the chances we had. We were more in their box but in the end we made one mistake and it’s a draw.”
Despite Thursday night’s draw, the Swiss can still make a qualification charge between now and November as they still have to play Gibraltar twice and Georgia (h) to rack up more points in Group D.
But Xhaka knows the Irish will pose a significant threat when the sides meet again in Geneva on October 15.
“We have to win,” he said.
“It’s our last chance against them because they are six points in front of us. We know they have good qualities, they have good team spirit and they are physically very strong.
“I knew before the game Ireland have a lot of Premier League players. It was not a lot different to a Premier League game. It was a good game – both sides kept fighting. But I think it’ll be a different game at home.”
Although the Swiss didn’t test Republic ‘keeper Darren Randolph too often during Thursday night’s nail-biter, they had plenty of opportunities before they finally broke the deadlock in the 74th minute.
Switzerland should bank three points at home to group minnows Gibraltar tomorrow while Denmark face a tricky assignment away to Georgia following their 6-0 thrashing of Gibraltar two nights ago. The Republic face Bulgaria in a friendly in Dublin on Tuesday night.
Xhaka added: “We have Gibraltar two times, we play Georgia (h) too, so I think we have easier teams to play against but every game is difficult. So let’s see against Denmark and Ireland to see who is top.
“We want to win the group.”
