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Xherdan Shaqiri's take on Switzerland

"I told my parents that we would get Albania," midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri tells UEFA.com, with the 'Alpine Messi' sure Switzerland can prosper at UEFA EURO 2016.

Xherdan Shaqiri is of Kosovar Albanian extraction
Xherdan Shaqiri is of Kosovar Albanian extraction ©AFP/Getty Images

On Vladimir Petković ...

Every coach has their own philosophy. Ottmar Hitzfeld had done some excellent work – we had a change in generations under Hitzfeld and he brought in a lot of young players who have now gathered experience and are playing for some top European clubs. Petković has also been doing some great work, making us play attacking and also successful football. The big objective was to qualify for the EURO and that's what we managed to do. We have a lot of players from different backgrounds and that gives strength to this team. Petković speaks a lot of languages, which is very positive, and I think he understands the players very well.

On facing Albania ...

Granit Xhaka's EURO target

I told my parents that we would get Albania  and we did. It's a special draw for many players in the team, but we played Albania twice in the last World Cup qualifying campaign and we did really well. It will be a special game for me and for many others, but in the end it's a football game where three points are at stake at a very important tournament. That makes it even more special. We have enough experience and we want to win that first game.

On Switzerland's finals targets ...

Switzerland and France are the clear favourites in our group, but Romania conceded almost no goals in their qualifying campaign so that won't be an easy match. Our first objective is to qualify for the next round. We have a lot of potential to do well. The EURO goes by quite fast and you can be in the semi-finals pretty quickly, but you can also be back home before you know it. So we need to focus on the group stage first.

On Switzerland's strengths ...

Top five Swiss qualifying goals

We're solid, we're strong and very good as a team. We have won most of our games and got the three points. I think that is what characterises us: we are very strong as a team and can handle difficult situations very well. Of course we also have individual players who can decide a game, but I think in the last few years our team has been characterised by its solidity. We play very good attacking football – we don't sit back. Fans can look forward to it. I think it will be a great time over there and they will see a lot of goals.

Switzerland’s EURO star: Xherdan Shaqiri