The team had a roller coaster qualification campaign that saw Greece, Latvia and Israel also battling for a place at South Africa 2010. On the face of it, there was no elite nation in the group making the Swiss’ path to the finals a lot easier. Even so, an embarassing defeat to Luxembourg along with several draws ensured that progression to the finals wasn’t smooth. Even so, the nation will be hoping to replicate or better their knock out stage appearance at the 2006 tournament.

The new Switzerland 2010 home shirt is predominately red with white patches on the sides, sleeves and around the polo neck collar. Manufacturers Puma place their white logo centrally below the collar whilst the national team flag is present on the left and a Swiss logo is situated on the right.

On the other hand, the Switzerland away shirt is predominately white with red piping down the sides and along the sleeve trim. Manufacturers Puma place their red logo centrally below the white and red collar. The Swiss national flag is situated in the top left and a red Swiss logo is present in the top right.

With former legendary Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzfeld at the helm, expectations were high for qualifying for South Africa 2010. The group draw for qualifying raised the optimism as the Swiss were placed with no footballing giants. The six team group certainly looked the most open with Greece, Latvia and Israel all realistically looking at being in the top two. Luxembourg and Moldova were there to most probably make up the numbers.

However, the Swiss suffered a slightly disappointing opening to their campaign away to Israel. The team’s 2-0 lead was pegged back with a goal from Yossi Benayoun in the 73rd minute and a Ben Sahar 92nd minute equaliser. The result fuelled the notion that the group was going to be incredibly tight and unpredictable.

Unpredictable was certainly the word for the next match as Switzerland hosted Luxembourg. A shock early goal for the visitors was pegged back by the Swiss. However, with the game nearing a close, an 87th minute winner from Luxembourg gave them one of their biggest victories ever leaving the group wide open.

A home defeat to Luxembourg heaped the pressure on Hitzfeld to turn it around. They began the revival in the next match with a fairly unconvincing 2-1 victory against Latvia. Next up was a key game away to group leaders Greece. A defeat would have put Switzerland eight points behind and leaving them with 2nd place as the only realistic ambition left. Nevertheless, a good performance from Hitzfeld’s side saw them beat the Euro 2004 Champions 2-1 in their own back yard to leave the group wide open again.

A 2-0 win away to Moldova was met with more jubilation after it was heard that Greece had been held 1-1 away in Israel. The reverse fixture saw the Swiss secure another comfortable 2-0 win although this time Greece managed to beat Israel at home. This left Switzerland and Greece joint top of the group with 13 points a piece. Latvia and Israel were also only a couple of point behind meaning that the next set of fixtures, which saw the Swiss host Greece and Israel take on Latvia, were crucial.

Two goals in the final six minutes secured an important 2-0 home victory for Switzerland over Greece whilst Latvia kept their hopes alive with an away win against Israel. The next match saw the team travel to Latvia for a tricky away game. A first half goal for Alexander Frei looked to have the Swiss on their way to a crucial win. However, two second half goals put Latvia in pole position before an 80th minute equaliser rescued a point. Nevertheless, the news that Moldova had secured a 90th minute equaliser against Greece kept the crucial three point margain between the teams and signalled a real missed opportunity for the Greeks.

A 3-0 away win away to Luxembourg ensured no repeat of an upset against the group minnows. With one match remaining, Switzerland just needed a point at home to Israel to guarantee qualification. With Greece unimpressively beating Luxembourg 2-1 at home, a tense match was played out in Basel that saw Switzerland gain the much needed point with a 0-0 draw. The result meant that Switzerland had booked their place in South Africa although they will need to perform better if they are to make an impact in the competition.

Switzerland become the first to be knocked out from the group stage of the Euro 2008 after losing 2-1 to Turkey. Switzerland took the lead in the first half but suffered two goals in the second half to bow out of the tournament. The match was one of the most thrilling and both teams deserved to grab points from the match. A moment of brilliance from Turkey saw them nip the co-hosts in the 92nd minute of the match leaving the home fans deluded.

Hakan Yakin sent Swiss fans into joy in the first half but it was not to be… Turkey turned the match in the second half with the equaliser from Semih Senturk and then a deep stoppage time goal from Arda Turan left Kobi Kuhn’s men disillusioned.  Switzerland play Portugal next and with Portugal already qualified, Switzerland might at least get a consolation result in their final encounter. Czech Republic and Turkey were always favoured then hosts Switzerland to join Portugal in the quater finals but Turkey needed to work extremely hard to gain this vital win.

Switzerland went into the break leading 1-0 thanks to a Hakan Yakin goal sending the numerous fans dancing in jubilation. Switzerland need to win the match to get back hopes of qualifying from the group stage and currently they are doing exactly what they need to do.

Probable Starting XI: Benaglio; Magnin, Müller, Senderos, Lichtsteiner; Barnetta, Behrami, Fernandes, Inler; Streller, Yakin.

Euro 2008 Co-hosts lost their opening match against Czech Republic on the opening match of Euro 2008 and this means that they must beat Turkey today or at least draw to survive any hopes of qualifying for the quarter finals. Turkey lost 2-0 to Portugal in their first match and this leaves Portugal and Czech topping the group with 3 points. Switzerland lost their star player Alexander Frei to injury in the first match and this leaves with slight lack of hope of getting some good results in the tournament.

Hakan Yakin is likely to replace injured Frei

Squadra	G	V	N	P	F	S	P.ti
	Portugal	1	1	0	0	2	0	3
	Czech Rep	1	1	0	0	1	0	3
	Switzerland	1	0	0	1	0	1	0
	Turkey	1	0	0	1	0	2	0

Alexander Frei will be the star player of the Swiss squad in this year’s edition of the European Championships. Frei is 28 years old, born on the 15^th July 1979, and he plays as a striker for Borussia Dortmund. The reported transfer fee paid by Dortmund to secure his services from French club Rennes in 2006 is € 5 million. Until now, he has earned 56 caps for Switzerland, in which he scored 32 goals. He only needs three more goals to be considered Switzerland’s number one all-time top scorer. Frei can score a goal if he spots a tiny flaw in the opponents’ defence.

Frei was selected for the Swiss squad to play in the 2006 World Cup. In this competition, he managed to score two goals. One of the goals was against Togo and the other against South Korea. The Swiss lad has the potential to be a match winner for the Switzerland national team, and unless the Group A opponents are careful, the Swiss may surprise everyone by progressing to the quarter-finals. A key factor that will back the Swiss team is that the team will be playing all its group stage matches in Basel, Switzerland.