Switzerland’s Nigerian-born defender, Manuel Obafemi Akanji is blowing hot ahead of his side’s quarter-finals clash with Argentina at ther ongoing FIFA World Cup, as he declared that he and his teammates are ready to battle the South Americans anywehere the fixture takes them.
Sports247 reports that, though Switzerland barely scraped through the round of 16 via penalties against Collombia, following their goalless draw, while Argentina romped from two-goals down to defeat Egypt 3-2 on the same day, Akanji believes his side are well poised to cause a shock of their own.
He admitted that playing Columbia at BC Place was an advantage of sorts, as the Swiss had lined out there two times earlier in this same Mundial, but Akanji quickly pointed out that the experience gained from deafeating the South Americans will come in handy versus Argentina.
The result means that the Swiss have reached the quarter-final stage for the third time in their history, marching on to play comeback kings and reigning champions, Argentina, while Colombia’s disappointing form this year against European countries extended into a draw and three defeats.
The former Manchester City of England defender and his teammates made the best of their familiarity with the pitch in Vancouver, Canada to win the round of 16 fixture, despite jeers from a partisan crowd of 52,479 who cheered the Colombians and booed every time the Swiss touched the ball.
However, Akanji, who now plays for Inter Milan of Italy, pointed out that the same fans ended up silent in defeat, as Switzerland topped the team from Cali 4-3 on penalties, after neither side hit the net over 120 minutes of play, leaving the Nigerian-born centre back boasting that his team can win anywhere.
“We played here before. We know how the pitch is. It might have helped us a little bit. But, in the end, it’s another game wherever we play and we have to try to do our best. Luckily, we won. When you look at the stadium, it didn’t feel like home.
“Already, at the anthem, there was the whole stadium chanting in Spanish the Colombia national anthem,” Akanji said after Tuesday’s round of 16 game at BC Place, where the Swiss played their third straight match of this year’s World Cup, and he’s already looking up to meeting Argentina in Dallas, USA.
Sports247 reports that it promises to be another feisty outing for Akanji, who was born in Neftenbach, Switzerland to a Swiss mother and Nigerian father, who both encouraged him to mix football with vocational training, which he completed as a tradesman in 2017.
The stopper, who has also played for FC Basel of Switzerland and Borussia Dortmund of Germany, began his career with the local Wiesendangen club, after which he became a youth-team player for FC Winterthur in May 2007, then became a regular starter during 2014/15 Swiss Challenge League.
He got his senior national team debut in 2017, after featuring for Switzerland’s under-20 and under-21 sides, following which he was a member of their squads for the European Championships in 2020 and 2024, as well as three editions of the FIFA World Cup – 2018, 2022 and 2026.
