Switzerland can still reach the knockout stages of Euro 2008 despite losing their opening game to the Czech Republic, according to coach Koebi Kuhn.
Kuhn said he was proud of the way his side had performed in a 1-0 defeat in the tournament’s opening match in Basel.
“Everything is possible. This game is over, the next game is Wednesday (against Turkey) and we are not going to give up. To the contrary, we are going to build on what we achieved today,” Kuhn said after the match.
“It is going to be important…to forget about this game,” he said. “The probability to win the group certainly has not increased.”
Kuhn said Switzerland had enough chances to win the game, and reminded reporters that Portugal lost their first match four years ago and still reached the final.
The Swiss coach, who steps down at the end of the tournament, refused to criticise the referee for a late decision not to award a penalty after Tomasz Ujfalusi appeared to handle the ball.
“You can assess the referee’s performance on its merits. I do not want to comment on this at all,” he said. “I told my team they can leave this stadium with their heads held high.”
