Swiss football chiefs on Monday anointed Murat Yakin as the new head coach of the national football team.
The 46-year-old boss of the Swiss second division club FC Schaffhausen takes over from Vladimir Petkovic who led Switzerland past France in the last-16 and into the quarter-finals of the 2021 European championships.
Yakin won 49 caps for Switzerland during a career that took him to teams in Switzerland, Germany and Turkey.
Pride
"Even as a player, the national team was an affair of the heart for me,” said Yakin.
“It is a great honour and pleasure for me to be able to represent our country as a coach of the national team.”
Murat Yakin ist der neue Nati-Trainer. Herzlich Willkommen!
— 🇨🇭 Nati (@nati_sfv_asf) August 9, 2021
Murat Yakin est le nouvel entraîneur de la Nati. Bienvenue!
Murat Yakin è il nuovo allenatore della Nati. Benvenuto!
👉 https://t.co/AeHvUVv9wn
(🎥🇫🇷 👇)#natimiteuch #lanatiavecvous #lanaticonvoi pic.twitter.com/AdQqjjraG0
Yakin's coaching experience includes two Swiss league titles with Basel in 2013 and 2014 and a stint in Russia with Spartak Moscow.
He has been charged with leading Switzerland to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Start
His first match will be a friendly against Greece in Basel on 1 September.
La Nati - as the team is nicknamed - start their quest for a berth in Qatar on 5 September with a game in Basel against the European champions Italy who beat them in the group stages on the way to the crown.
Switzerland then travel to Belfast to take on Northern Ireland on 8 September.
“I’m convinced that we will qualify for the World Cup with this great team and celebrate further successes," Yakin added.
Petkovic, who steered Switzerland to their best showing at an international tournament since the 1954 World Cup, left after the European championships to take over at the French Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux.
His reign started inauspiciously with a 2-0 home defeat to newly-promoted Clermont Foot.
