Zuber: "Now we need to look forward"

Hoffenheim first-teamer and World Cup history-maker Steven Zuber has issued a message to his fans one day after being eliminated from the tournament in Russia. "Thanks for the excellent support. We all wanted to achieve more. Now what counts is that we look forward and do better next time," wrote the 26-year-old in a post on his Instagram account. The winger was part of the Switzerland team that was beaten 1-0 by Sweden at the Round of 16 stage on Tuesday.

Despite the "disappointment" of elimination, the Hoffenheim man enjoyed a good tournament – and wrote his name into the TSG history books when he became the club's first player to score at a World Cup with his equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Brazil. Zuber also started the 2-1 victory over Serbia and the loss to Sweden, only missing out on the 2-2 draw with Costa Rica due to illness.

First holiday, then pre-season

Despite his strong performances, frustration was still the prevailing emotion following what he deemed to be an avoidable World Cup exit at the hands of Sweden. "Of course I'm very disappointed about the result. The goal we let in was unlucky. We should've created more dangerous opportunities. We actually had the match under control. But we weren't as dangerous as we set out to be," he said.

Hoffenheim's first-ever World Cup goalscorer will now enjoy a well-deserved break before joining the TSG team for training later on in pre-season.