Switzerland World Cup 2006 Team Profile

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Paul Robinson looks the Swiss.

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Switzerland's appearance in their 8th World Cup is overshadowed somewhat by the controversy surrounding the aftermath of the tense playoff with Turkey. Violence involving fans, players and officials followed the game from which Switzerland qualified on away goals.

It is now the subject of FIFA's biggest disciplinary investigation to date but, as yet, they're still in the competition having got there by the skin of their teeth in what was probably the tightest qualifying group.

Committed self doubters and pessimists when it comes to football, can the self-deprecating Swiss muster enough confidence and self belief to make an impact this year?

World Cup Group G

France (13/6)
Togo (19/6)
South Korea (23/6)

How on earth did they get here?

A pretty old dog when it comes to football teams, Switzerland formed way back in the heady waxed handlebar-moustached times of 1895 and played its first full international against France in 1905 when they were beaten 1-0. Quite what they were doing in the ten year interim I do not know.

Apart from an Olympic silver medal in 1924 notable success has eluded them. They took part in their first World Cup in 1934, reaching the quarter finals as they did in the following tournament. The quarter finals are the farthest they have yet reached in the competition, and they did it for the third and last time in 1954 when they were the host nation. In the 52 years following that they have only managed to get as far as the second round once, in the 1994 competition in the US, and this is Switzerland's first appearance in the World Cup since then.

Switzerland qualified for Germany from what must have been the tightest group in Europe after a tense and controversial playoff against Turkey. They remained undefeated in the group but drew most games, only beating the Faroe Islands and Cyprus, and just finished second ahead of Israel.

A very young side comfortably beat Turkey 2-0 in the first leg of the playoffs at home, and the subsequent 4-2 defeat in Turkey was enough for the Swiss to qualify on away goals. Unfortunately it descended into violence involving players, officials and stewards and resulted in the hospitalisation of Swiss defender Stephane Grichting and the resignation of the Turkey assistant coach Mehmet Ozdilek after his actions were caught by TV cameras. FIFA is now investigating but the scope of the investigation means that nothing will come of it until next year.

Qualifying Results

4-9-04 Switzerland 6-0 Faroe Islands
8-9-04 Switzerland 1-1 Ireland
9-10-04 Israel 2-2 Switzerland
26-3-05 France 0-0 Switzerland
30-3-05 Switzerland 1-0 Cyprus
4-6-05 Faroe Islands 1-3 Switzerland
3-9-05 Switzerland 1-1 Israel
7-9-05 Cyprus 1-3 Switzerland
8-10-05 Switzerland 1-1 France
12-10-05 Ireland 0-0 Switzerland
12-11-05 Switzerland 2-0 Turkey
16-11-05 Turkey 4-2 Switzerland

The man in charge

Jakob Kuhn took over the helm from Enzo Trossero in 2001, making him the first Swiss national to take charge of the side in 12 years. A former midfielder at FC Zurich, Kuhn has six Swiss league winners medals in his cabinet along with five Swiss cup winners medals and played for his country 63 times.

His years in charge so far have been successful, although if we're honest he hasn't really had much to live up to. Since becoming the national coach he has qualified for Euro 2004 and Germany 2006 – a pretty quick turnaround.

He was previously the Switzerland Under-21s coach and has brought experience and knowledge from this with him to his tenure as national coach, building a good young side. He recently said, "We have always been accused – and perhaps quite rightly so – of having a problem with our confidence but our young players aren't afraid anymore." Go on!

Star men

Youth could be the key in Switzerland's Cup this year, with a lot of the side under 21. The average age of the team that played Scotland in the recent friendly was only 23 – that's a lot of young legs that shouldn't tire too easily.

France based striker Frei scored the winner in the crucial qualifier against Cyprus and should continue to impress if he finds his feet quick enough. Arsenal's young starlet Philippe Senderos may prove to be the other weapon in the Swiss armoury, and experienced captain Johann Vogel will be keeping a watchful eye over the young whippersnappers from midfield.

How will they do?

Switzerland's past World Cup record doesn't suggest that anything much will come of their participation this year, but the last time they were in a World Cup was 12 years ago and a lot has changed since then and since they failed to qualify for Japan/Korea 2002.

The Swiss have a very young team with a smattering of older more experienced players to lead the charge and this could prove to be a potent blend. It's also worth noting that the defeat in Turkey ended a 14 game straight unbeaten run, no mean feat by any standards.

A lot of how Switzerland perform this year will depend on attitude and confidence – if they can remain strong and manage not to wilt in the face of France then they can add to previous performances which produced draws and do well. South Korea showed what they were capable of last time around, but it may be very different without a home crowd behind them. With Togo, who knows?

I think we can safely say that the Swiss won't be leaving Germany with the trophy this year. Matching their best and reaching the quarters is a very, very distant possibility and even reaching the second round would be an achievement, but I think they might just do that if results go their way. Draws aren't going to get them very far though.

What the locals say

"Someone started to say "Hell yeah, we are gonna get to the quarter finals and then who knows, maybe further away..."

I say, yeah, for example further away, further away,... let's say home.

Switzerland. Yeah, come on.

The Swiss team practices a really, really slow game. How can we beat France? Maybe...

How can we beat Togo? Come on, they are Africans and they will run like gazelles. We milk cows...

How can we beat South Korea? They run like ants. We have no chance, we play horns.

I think, and this is my personal opinion of course, we'll be kicked out at the first round."

Tia, 25, Lugano, Switzerland.

Word on the street

"Skiing is the real game. So, I guess if the pitches weren't quite so flat, the weather conditions were atrociously wintry, and there were a few slalom poles dotted around the turf, Switzerland would stand a better chance."
Jonathan, 35, Madrid, Spain

World Cup Squad

Bet on the World Cup

Goalkeepers 1-Pascal Zuberbuhler (FC Basel), 21-Fabio Coltorti (Grasshoppers Zurich), 12-Diego Benaglio (CD Nacional)
Defenders 2-Johan Djourou (Arsenal), 3-Ludovic Magnin (VfB Stuttgart), 4-Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), 13-Stephane Grichting (Auxerre), 17-Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt), 19-Valon Behrami (Lazio), 20-Patrick Mueller (Olympique Lyon), 23-Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders 5-Xavier Margairaz (FC Zurich), 6-Johann Vogel (AC Milan), 7-Ricardo Cabanas (Cologne), 8-Raphael Wicky (Hamburg SV), 10-Daniel Gygax (Lille), 14-David Degen (FC Basel), 15-Blerim Dzemaili (FC Zurich), 16-Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen),
Forwards 9-Alex Frei (Rennnes), 11-Marco Streller (Cologne), 18-Mauro Lustrinelli (Sparta Prague), 22-Johan Vonlanthen (NAC Breda)

Pub Quiz facts in brief

Nickname: Nati
Coach: Jakob Kuhn
Founded: 1895
Biggest win: Switzerland 7-0 San Marino (1991)
Biggest defeat: Hungary 9-0 Switzerland (1911), Switzerland 0-9 England (1909)
World Cup appearances: 8 (1st was 1934)
European Championships appearances: 2 (1st was 1996)
Highest home attendance in qualifying stages: 31,400
Highest win in qualifying stages: Switzerland 6-0 Faroe Islands
Top scorer: Kubilay Turkyilmaz & Max Abeggien (34)
Most caps: Heinz Hermann (117)

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