Yakin gets big calls right as Swiss outclass Hungary

COLOGNE, Germany : Switzerland coach Murat Yakin found himself under pressure after a poor qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 but he got the big calls right on Saturday as his side beat Hungary 3-1 to open their Group A campaign in style.

Yakin sprung a surprise with his starting line-up in Cologne, handing inexperienced striker Kwadwo Duah his second cap and recalling Michel Aebischer on the left.

He also included injury-plagued Breel Embolo on the bench despite the striker having not played for the national team since the last-16 defeat by Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.

Duah repaid the faith shown in him with a 12th-minute opener, midfielder Aebischer was outstanding in a central midfield role, also scoring his first goal for Switzerland, and Embolo rounded off a great day for Yakin and the Swiss with a late clincher to kill off Hungary.

Yakin can also take credit for switching jet-heeled winger Dan Ndoye to the right where he caused havoc, especially in the first half dominated by the Swiss.

"I liken football to chess, and today we got our tactics right. We used this formation for a particular reason," Yakin told reporters.

"We focused on making the most of our strengths, and we made our opponents' lives very hard in the first half."

London-born Duah proved a real handful with his power and pace and it means Yakin has a nice selection problem with Embolo, who played little over 100 minutes of football with Monaco last season after an ACL injury, impressive when he arrived off the bench as a substitute.

"(Duah) is a penalty-box player and we have had the situation with Breel (Embolo), but we knew we could rely on him," Yakin said. "We knew we made the right decision to bring (Embolo). We knew he wasn't available for the last