Swiss must banish wastefulness against France – Xhaha

Paris (AFP) – Switzerland’s new Arsenal signing Granit Xhaka said his team must be less wasteful in front of goal when they face France on Sunday looking for a place in Euro 2016’s knockout phase.

The Swiss were held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Romania side on Wednesday despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, leaving them with four points and a tricky task ahead against the host nation as Group A comes to a head this weekend.

Admir Mehmidi’s powerful finish at the Parc des Princes cancelled out Bogdan Stancu’s penalty, but the Swiss had plenty of opportunities to finish off the Romanians but wasted them all.

“We can’t be totally satisfied with the result,” said Xhaka, who was voted man of the match.

“We created so many chances but unfortunately we couldn’t win.

“We could have scored two or three goals in the second half.

“We had eight good chances, we have to finish them.

“It’s not that we can’t create them, it’s that we can’t finish them.”

The 23-year-old, who will swap Borussia Monchengladbach for the Emirates next season, said he did not think the Swiss “have to be satisfied with four points”.

“We want to win against France like we want to win every game,” he said.

“France will be the favourites but we want to win against France, we’re not scared of them.”

France were playing Albania later Wednesday looking for their second win of the tournament, which would guarantee their passage into the last 16.