'Exceptional' Swiss strikers earn praise

Yannick Schwery and Maren Meinert both agreed that Switzerland strikers Ramona Bachmann and Ana Maria Crnogorcevic were the key players in Minsk as Germany suffered their heaviest ever defeat at this level. While Swiss coach Schwery called the pair "exceptional" he was also keen to single out his midfielders and goalscoring centre-half Danique Stein. Meinert, on the other, had no doubt that the Swiss pair were the difference between the sides. "We didn't understand how to stop their forwards," she said.

Yannick Schwery, Switzerland coach
We have so much attacking potential and we always try to score as many goals as possible. Today we scored three against Germany so I'm very happy – we really played well. Our two attackers [Bachmann and Crnogorcevic] are exceptional but we're also very good at serving them because our midfielders are good passers and quick to spot the ball over the top. I was also happy for our captain [Stein] who is celebrating her birthday today and marked it by scoring an incredible goal. She has so much desire to win, there's no doubt the skipper is a vital player in our team.

The game was played at a great pace so it's a credit to the girls that they managed to keep playing with intensity. Before this tournament I told them all to take two weeks' holiday during which time they were not to think about football at all. I wanted them to arrive here with clear heads. Now we are training as little as possible, trying to conserve energy. If the tactic had backfired I would have been criticised but for the moment it's working. We mustn't get carried away with this result, though. Germany had their chances as well so I don't want us thinking we're unbeatable or anything. We have to keep our feet firmly on the ground because there are so many good teams here, we've got one more game to play and we're not through to the semi-finals yet.

Maren Meinert, Germany coach
It was a bit like the last game because we conceded an early goal again and then we had to chase the game which was very tough. All in all I think Switzerland deserved to win. They have great forwards in Bachmann and Crnogorcevic, and at times it was Bachmann against my whole defence. They couldn't stop her and that is disappointing for me. We didn't play badly going forward, but we didn't create enough clear chances to get the goals and that's disappointing too.

The scoreline is maybe a little bit hard on us. I think my team did well in the first half and despite the score I was satisfied. After conceding we came back well and played some good football. In the second half we didn't understand how to stop their forwards and that isn't good enough. The players need to learn. We managed to recover from losing an early goal against France, but we can't do that every time. It is easier for the opponent to defend when they have the lead. We have to talk about that, we have to deal with that and look forward to the next game.

Can Switzerland be champions? Maybe. I think if you can beat Germany 3-0 you are in with a chance. I think they have a very strong team. I know we could be eliminated in the group stage but we will see what happens in the final games. Switzerland are so good I think they will get something out of the game against France. We will try to win our game.