Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will have appreciated the words of the Switzerland coach after Manu Akanji's penalty miss
The Blues defender has been one of the standout players of the tournament and had impressed again over 120 minutes of the quarter-final with England before becoming the first Swiss player to step up in the penalty shootout. It was a poor penalty though - one you might expect from a centre-back, you could argue - and after seeing his tame effort saved by Jordan Pickford it was an agonising end for Akanji as he had to watch England slot home another four penalties to win the game.
Back in Manchester, psychologist David Young and staff are aware that players need to be looked after when returning to the club after a break or time away with the national team. That can be essential after a miss such as Akanji's but equally after a player experiences the ecstasy of victory; Jack Grealish would almost certainly have had a better 2023/24 campaign if his 22/23 campaign had been worse.
They have already been helped in that by the Swiss coach, who told reporters that his message to Akanji after the game was to thank him. "You give responsibility to your players, and you can't be angry at them afterwards - players who played a fantastic tournament, especially Manu," Murat Yakin said.
"Of course, there's deep emptiness, deep sadness. But this is the kind of sadness where everybody, every individual, has to work through it.
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