Berlin
\nDefending champion Italy crashed out of the European Championship after losing to Switzerland 2-0 in the last 16 on Saturday.
\nGoals in each half from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas gave the Swiss their first win over their southern neighbour for 31 years and set up a quarterfinal against England or Slovakia in Dusseldorf on July 6.
\nItaly\u2019s elimination means the titleholder has gone out in the last 16 for the third successive Euro after Portugal in 2021 and Spain in 2016.
\nSwitzerland hadn\u2019t beaten Italy since 1993, and notched only a ninth win from 62 attempts.
\n\u201cWe showed from the first second that we really wanted to win this game. The spirit is incredible,\u201d Switzerland midfielder Fabian Riedler said. \u201cEveryone is happy. Everyone runs for the other one.\u201d
\nHis team dominated in terms of possession, shots, attacks and passes.
\nBy the time Italy responded in the second half, the aggressive Swiss defence was able to deal with it. Coach Murat Yakin\u2019s gameplan worked to perfection and he repaid the faith his federation showed him when there were calls for him to go in November.
\n\u201cFootball gives so much to us, gives so much to us in our lives. I don\u2019t know how to pay back football for everything it\u2019s given me and my life,\u201d Yakin said. \u201cI\u2019ll always remember tonight.\u201d
\nAll Italy counterpart Luciano Spalletti could do was put his hands out in exasperation on the sideline.
\n\u201cThe team were timid in terms of the intensity of the game. We didn\u2019t do a good job. We weren\u2019t able to maintain a high level of intensity,\u201d Spalletti said.
\nFreuler deservedly broke the deadlock in the 37th minute when he set up Vargas\u2019 cross with his first touch and smashed it in with his next.
\nItaly goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had earlier denied Breel Embolo in a one-on-one, produced a flying save to deflect Fabian Riedler\u2019s free kick onto the post before the break.
\nBut the second half had barely started before Vargas curled a shot from the edge of the penalty area inside the top right corner.
\nItaly was immediately more proactive and Switzerland defender Fabian Sch\u00e4r was relieved to see his attempted headed clearance rebound off the post minutes later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Berlin Defending champion Italy crashed out of the European Championship after losing to Switzerland 2-0 in the last 16 on Saturday. Goals in each half from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas gave the Swiss their first win over their southern neighbour for 31 years and set up a quarterfinal against England or Slovakia in Dusseldorf […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-415649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n