Switzerland started their preparations for the European Championship on a winning note as they beat the United States 2-1 in a friendly international on Sunday.  The home side struck from behind to beat a youthful American side that is looking ahead to the Concacaf Nations League final stages.

Substitute Steven Zuber found the net in the 63rd minute to help the Swiss in overcoming a sloppy first-half performance. Sebastian Lietget had USA ahead early in the game, expertly tucking home a shot from just inside the penalty area after Switzerland had failed to clear Giovanni Reyna’s cross.

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Although their lead lasted only for five minutes before Swiss left-back Ricardo Rodriguez and crashed a home shot, with the help of a deflection off Reggie Cannon. Rodriguez has had a second goal but put wide a penalty just before halftime after Dutch-born American fullback Sergino Dest had handled the ball.

Dest, Lletget, and Joshua Sargent all had the first-half chances for the visitors, which kept the experienced Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer busy.  After the break, U.S keeper Ethan Horvath was in the thick of things, denying two good scoring chances for Breel Embolo and seeing Remo Freuler and Haris Seferovic conjure up poor misses in the last 10 minutes.

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Switzerland’s next match will be on Thursday where they will face its neighbor Liechtenstein in St Gallen before they open their Euro 2020 campaign against Wales in Baku on June 12.

On Thursday, U.S will take on Honduras in a Concacaf Nations League semi-final in Denver and will either meet Mexico or Costa Rica n the final or the third-place playoff.