BRAZIL 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP SPECIAL
E
SWITZERLAND,ECUADOR,FRANCE,HONDURAS
SWISS SENSATION:
Switzerland's Gokhan Inler scores
for his country during the qualifiers.
Swiss sensations aim to justify seeded status
BRIEFLY: Switzerland duly qualified
without losing any of their 10 group games
against Iceland, Slovenia, Cyprus,
Albania or Norway. As an added bonus,
their results lifted them into the top eight of
the FIFA rankings and they were among
the seeded teams for the draw.
Flattering as those statistics maybe,
Switzerland, who have successfully
drawn on the large community of
immigrants from the Balkans over the last
few years, have plenty of reasons for
believing they can at least reach the last
sixteen.
Most of their players, such as Stephan
Lichtsteiner and the Napoli trio of Gokhan
Inler, Blerim Dzemaili and Valon Behrami,
are playing for top Bundesliga and Serie A
clubs and are experienced competitors at
the very highest levels.
MISSION: Switzerland's place among
the top teams for the World Cup draw
caused some debate about the seeding
system, but sides are generally seeded
for a reason - they're tough to beat. Swiss
national sides of the past have been
notorious for their dull brand of football.
More recently though, Switzerland have
excelled at youth level and some dynamic
young players are now emerging on to the
senior stage.
The national team is improving, but of
course it's not like drawing Brazil or Spain.
This World Cup may come too soon for
their new generation of talent to really
STAR
GRANIT XHAKA: Kosovo-born
MAN midfielders Granit Xhaka and
Xherdan Shaqiri followed a similar
path from Basel to the Bundesliga in
2012 but it is Xhaka, 21, who has made the
breakthrough this season as a regular with
Borussia Mönchengladbach. Formerly a
winger, he now plays in central midfield and
has been compared in style and talent to
Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger by
Hitzfeld, who has coached them both.
34 COMPLETE FOOTBALL
KEY
MAN
game to spare.
shine.
HIGH POINT: Opening the 2010
PREPARATION: Switzerland secured
their place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup
tournament with a 1-0 win over European
Brazil on the penultimate qualifying
champions and eventual World Cup
match-day. However, it was far from plain
winners Spain. Sadly that was as good as
sailing for Die Eidgenossen, who faced
it got as they finished their group third.
several setbacks along the way.
LOW POINT: When your top scorer
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s ensemble
during qualifying is a centre-back (Fabian
raced to the group summit following
Schar) with three goals, you know you've
opening victories over Slovenia and
got issues up front. Switzerland boast
Albania, but dropped points for the first
incredible talent in defence and midfield,
time in their next qualifying games.
marshalled by world-class coach Ottmar
Hitzfeld's charges recorded a 1-1 draw
Hitzfeld, but will come undone if they can't
with Norway and a 2-0
victory over Iceland
COACH
before chalking up a draw OTTMAR HITZFELD: Hitzfeld will be
leading the Swiss to his second major
and a win against Cyprus.
Nerves got the better of tournament, having also been in charge at
the 2010 World Cup where they bowed out
Switzerland in their next in the first round despite a 1-0 win over
game against Iceland, eventual champions Spain in their opening
when they ended up
STRONGEST LINE-UP
drawing 4-4 after
Benaglio
leading 4-1. There
were no further slipRodriguez
Schaar
ups in their final
Lichtsteiner
outings though, with
Von Bergen
a 2-0 triumph over
Inler
Behrami
Norway all but
ensuring their
Stocker
qualification for a
Xhaka
Shaqiri
third consecutive
World Cup, before a
Seferovic
2-1 win over Albania
s e a l e d
Switzerland’s Brazil
2014 ticket with a
FORMATION: 4-2-3-1
GOKHAN INLER: Napoli
paid Udinese £11.5million
in 2011 for the elegant
midfield man, now aged 29, who
was born in Switzerland from a
Turkish family.
Inler made his internatonal debut
for Switzerland in 2006 and has
KEY
MAN
XHERDAN SHAQIRI:
Shaqiri was raised at FC Basel,
making his professional debut
as a 17-year-old and winning his first
Swiss title the same season. He moved
to Bayern Munich last season and
confounded predictions that he would be
frozen out of the first team as he made
decisive contributions whenever called
upon, helping the Bavarians win an