Breel Embolo hailed Cristiano Ronaldo as an inspiration and Kylian Mbappe as a role model forward of Switzerland’s World Cup last-16 tie in opposition to Portugal.
Embolo has impressed for the Swiss in Qatar, scoring twice within the group stage.
That is yet another objective than Ronaldo has managed, with the Portugal captain netting solely of their opening win over Ghana, with the objective coming from the penalty spot.
It did, nonetheless, make Ronaldo the primary man to attain at 5 totally different World Cups, and Embolo is honoured to get the possibility to go up in opposition to the 37-year-old on the largest stage.
“I think Cristiano, not just for forwards, but for all athletes, is a great inspiration and is enriching for our time,” he stated in a press convention.
“You can only learn from someone like him. As a player and a person, it’s an honour to be facing him.”
France star Mbappe, in the meantime, has been in excellent kind, scoring 5 objectives to guide the cost for the Golden Boot, along with his glorious double in opposition to Poland on Sunday sending Les Bleus into a quarter-final in opposition to England.
Mbappe already has 9 World Cup objectives to his title, as many as Lionel Messi and greater than Ronaldo (eight). Aged 23 years and 349 days, he’s the youngest participant to attain 5 knockout-stage objectives on the competitors since Brazil nice Pele in 1958.
Embolo is nearly two years older than Mbappe, however the Monaco ahead nonetheless sees him as a participant to look as much as.
“He’s incredible. He’s 23 years old, he’s an incredible player, I know him from Ligue 1 and he is a role model even for me,” Embolo stated of Mbappe.
“What he’s doing in the intervening time is basically spectacular, so I wish to congratulate him, he’s extraordinary.
“Nine goals in World Cups at 23 – it says everything about him. I really wish him all the best, and for him to score nine more World Cup goals.”
23 – Aged 23 years and 349 days, Kylian Mbappé is the youngest participant to achieve 5 knockout stage objectives on the World Cup since Pelé in 1958 (17y 249d). Superstar. pic.twitter.com/Ow7HLvdeM0
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 4, 2022
After a full-blooded victory over Serbia to make the final 16, Switzerland want to win three video games in a single World Cup match for the primary time of their historical past.
Asked if this was essentially the most promising Swiss squad he had been a a part of at a main match, Embolo replied: “It’s like all generations, there may be a change. I joined this group six, seven years in the past, so it’s troublesome to say that is the perfect era.
“There have been very nice gamers and these gamers confirmed us tips on how to combine, like Yann Sommer or Granit Xhaka. It’s necessary to maintain these values within the staff and transmit to the subsequent era.
“If I learned something it’s that if we had challenging times in our lives or at our clubs but we were always together.”
This would be the third assembly between Portugal and Switzerland in 2022, having confronted one another twice within the Nations League in June.
Portugal gained 4-0 in a match performed in Lisbon, earlier than Switzerland gained 1-0 in Geneva a week later.
“We are ready, the squad is complete. It’s a big opportunity for us to make history for Switzerland, we have seen how euphoric the Swiss people are about us being at this stage,” stated coach Murat Yakin.
“Statistics and the past don’t matter, we will focus on this game. We are familiar with this opponent and we’ve proven we can beat them. Everything else is history.”
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