Derdiyok pleased with Switzerland statement

Switzerland's players were unanimous in their belief that a team performance was the crucial factor in Tuesday's 4-1 UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group G victory against Wales.

Ottmar Hitzfeld's charges were feeling the heat after losing their opening two Group G fixtures against England and Montenegro, and a third straight loss may well have put a premature end to their qualification dreams. "We were under serious pressure because of the media and our position in the table," said striker Eren Derdiyok. "But the team rallied together and we performed as a unit."

Valentin Stocker started and finished the scoring for the hosts in Basel. Further goals from Marco Streller and Gökhan Inler, the latter from the spot, ensuring a comfortable first three points for the Nati despite Gareth Bale's early equaliser.

"I'm delighted that we showed a positive response to our defeat in Montenegro a few days ago," continued Derdiyok. "We proved that we can function well as a team and we've made a real statement with this victory."

"It was an important victory for us," agreed midfielder Pirmin Schwegler, who paid similar tribute to the way his team responded to a growing number of doubters. "It's been a difficult few days for us but we had to pull together as a team and thankfully we managed to bring that togetherness out on to the pitch."

Schwegler described the result as a "release" and has now set his sights on catching early pacesetters Montenegro and England, who shared the points in a 0-0 draw at Wembley and currently occupy the all-important top two spots in the table. Wales, meanwhile, are languishing at the bottom as the only side yet to register a point.

Even so, Bayer 04 Leverkusen striker Derdiyok observed that the visitors had "a number of excellent individual players", one of which was undoubtedly goalscorer Bale. The Tottenham Hotspur FC wide man provided his team's main attacking threat throughout and felt there were positives to be taken from the match despite the unflattering scoreline.

"We got the ball down, passed it and created some chances," Bale said. "We have to take that into our next match and as we grow together as a team we'll get better."

Midfielder David Vaughan took a more sombre view of Wales' situation, concluding: "We've lost our first three games so I think it's unlikely that we'll have any chance of qualifying now."