The Road to South Africa

Hitzfeld’s tenure could not have had a worse start. Having thrown away a two-goal lead in the last moments of their opening game against Israel in Tel Aviv, the Swiss then suffered the numbing defeat to Luxembourg. That seemed to jar the team into life in what was a relatively straightforward group. The next five matches were won and, most importantly, Greece were beaten 2-1 in Athens and 2-0 in Basel, a result that virtually guaranteed qualification. Only in their final match, a goalless draw with Israel, did the Swiss fail to score and in five of their final six matches they kept a clean sheet.

The Star Players

Philippe Senderos (Everton) Signed by Arsenal from his first club, Servette, as a teenager, Senderos is a talented but error-prone centre-half who never seemed able to convince his manager, Arsene Wenger, of his ability and was loaned out to first Milan and then Everton. His international record, especially in the last World Cup, is far better.

Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen) Equally at home on the wing or in a central midfield role, Barnetta was one of the successes of the Swiss World Cup campaign in 2006. His time with Bayer Leverkusen has been a mixed one, however, though this season he has demonstrated more of his true potential.

Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen) Another of Bayer’s Swiss recruits, Derdiyok is a big powerful striker who has provided invaluable support to Alexander Frei and scored with his first touch at Wembley against England. If pressed, he can operate as a centre-half and began his Bundesliga career by scoring at better than a goal every other game.

The Coach

Ottmar Hitzfeld He may have won the European Cup with two different teams, a managerial feat only Ernst Happel can match, but nothing has given “The General” more pleasure than seeing Switzerland qualify for the World Cup. Although he was born in Germany, Hitzfeld achieved his first managerial triumphs with Grasshoppers Zurich. He expanded on that success in the Bundesliga, leading Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League against a great Juventus side and then winning it again with Bayern Munich in 2001. In between he saw the European Cup snatched from him in stoppage time by Manchester United. He returned to Bayern to lead them to the Bundesliga title in 2008 before joining Switzerland.

Honours

World Cup: Quarter-finalists 1938, 1954. Round of 16 2006

Analysis

Now that Alexander Frei has passed the age of 30 there is probably too much riding on his shoulders. Switzerland are more aggressive than they were in 2006 when they failed to even score a penalty against Ukraine in the shoot-out in Cologne. Defensively, they are still strong but it is the format of Group H that counts against them when it comes to qualification. Ottmar Hitzfeld’s men face the weakest team, Honduras, last when it all might be academic. They start with almost the toughest match possible, against Spain in Durban, before travelling along0 the coast to Port Elizabeth to face Chile, where they would have to take at least a point to have a realistic ambition of progressing to the last 16.

Verdict

Squad (2.5/5)
Frei apart, this is a squad without great players but which has worked very well as a team.

Coach (5/5)
Ottmar Hitzfeld is one of the world’s great coaches but he will need all his tenacity and cunning to steer the Swiss through.

Attack (2/5)
Switzerland have a better and more varied forward line than they possessed in either of their last two major tournaments but it still lacks a punch.

Defence (3/5)
This is their major strength that proved itself in the 2006 tournament and recovered well after shocks against Israel and Luxembourg in qualification.