Group A continued It took Switzerland nine attempts before finally making it to the European Championships finals. That was back in 1996 and they followed with another appearance in Portugal four years ago.
How they qualified As a co-host the Swiss were spared the trauma of qualification.
The Coach Kobi Kuhn succeeded a raft of foreign coaches (Uli Stielike, Roy Hodgson, Gilbert Gress and Enzo Trossero) when he took over the Swiss national team duties seven years ago and when he retires after this tournament he will be replaced by German Ottmar Hitzfeld. Kuhn controversially installed Alexander Frei as captain in the spring of 2007 after a very public falling out with Johann Vogel.
Key Players Alexander Frei has spent a good part of this season injured and only recently returned to play for his club side Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. If he can regain his sharpness for the summer tournament the Swiss may benefit from the enforced rest of their top striker.
Arsenal’s Philippe Senderos’ frailties have been on show at the club level but he still has the confidence of his international coach. Tranquillo Barnetta of Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed an excellent 2006 World Cup in Germany although he did miss a penalty in the shoot-out loss to Ukraine.
Great Euro Memory Their European Championship finals debut came in 1996 when they held host country England to a 1-1 draw. England led from an Alan Shearer goal early in the game but with seven minutes left Stuart Pearce was called for a handball in the penalty box and Kubilay Turkyilmaz equalized from the spot.
Synopsis Switzerland comes into the tournament with all the advantages and disadvantages of co-hosting. No worries over qualifying but unrealistic expectations and few opportunities over the last two years for the team to be tested in competitive games.
The Swiss were knocked out of the 2006 World Cup without conceding a goal although how they achieved such a feat with Pascal Zuberbuhler in net can be considered as a modern-day miracle.
The team has mix of youth and experience although a number of players (Patrick Muller, Tranquillo Barnetta, and Frei) have struggled with injuries lately. Of the two host nations the Swiss have by far the better chance to move on to the last eight.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Drawn in Group 2 with Greece, Israel, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg.
Turkey made their European Championship Finals debut in 1996 but lost all three games. Four years later they lost in the last eight to Portugal by a score of 2-0.
How they qualified It was topsy-turvy qualifying campaign for Turkey. Against all odds (including a ban on playing at home for part of the group stage) they started very well in Group C then hit a torrid streak at the midway point.
Just as they looked as if they had again blown their chance they recovered their nerve and finished seven points behind Greece and a point ahead of Norway. Hakan Sukur who has been left out of the squad for the finals was Turkey’s leading scorer with five goals. Tuncay Sanli and Nihat Kahveci each had three.
The Coach Fatih Terim is in charge at the Euros for a second time having helped Turkey to England in 1996. After the ’96 tournament and for the next four years Terim held a Midas-touch with league titles and a UEFA Cup coming his way while in charge of Galatasaray.
A move to Serie A with Fiorentina and then AC Milan did not prove to be nearly as successful and a return to Galatasaray failed to rekindle past glories. After failing to make it to the 2006 World Cup finals a place in the last eight is probably the minimum he needs to keep his job.
Key Players Nihat Kahveci has enjoyed a fantastic season with Villarreal in the Spanish league and looks to have put his injury woes behind. Small, mobile and with the instinct that only very good goal scorers have, Nihat could again become one of the most sought after strikers in Europe after this tournament.
Great Euro Memory At Euro 2000 the final group B match found co host Belgium needing only a draw against Turkey to move on to the knock out stage. Despite going into the match winless in five finals games Turkey shocked the home side with a goal on the stroke of half time from Hakan Sukur and with twenty minutes left the talismanic striker repeated the feat and Turkey moved on with Italy to the quarter final stage.
Synopsis Turkey and host nation Switzerland have “history” from a 2006 World Cup qualifying play-off game so when they face each other there might be fireworks. A hit-or-miss qualifying campaign makes it very difficult to assess Turkey’s chances. On top form they could be a great dark horse; on other days they may struggle to win a game.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Drawn in Group 5 along with Spain, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Armenia and Estonia.
The clamber by English fans and media to have David Beckham dropped after last summer’s World Cup has now been matched by the outpouring of support for his recall. Steve McClaren has now succumbed to both and in the process showed himself to have the integrity, sincerity and expediency of a third-rate sleazy politician.
Beckham made a convenient scapegoat for England’s poor performances in Germany and even at age 32 he did not deserve to be dropped by McClaren when he took over. Beckham rarely hurt England during the tournament while having a hand in the majority of goals that they scored.
However, upon his appointment as England manager, McClaren needed to distance himself from England’s disappointing showing at the World Cup and from his former boss Sven-Goran Eriksson. Eriksson and Beckham had become so closely associated in the public’s mind that the sacrificing of Beckham at the altar of short-sightedness was too much of a temptation for a man who seems to select a squad with both eyes on the next-day’s headlines.
In making the initial decision McClaren opted to satisfy the baying masses rather considering the long term implications of his decision. Now, he has not only made one wrong decision he has made two.
Is this England squad so devoid of quality that it needs David Beckham to beat the might of Estonia? Estonia, a country that has never come close to qualifying for a major tournament and so far in Euro qualification has played five, lost five, scored none and conceded ten. McClaren seems to think so as why else would he recall the Real Madrid star? What a message of encouragement and faith to the rest of the England squad.
But the implications of Beckham’s recall go far beyond the England team given that he will join the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS in a couple of months. Outwardly you can expect Galaxy and MLS brass to brag that this as an affirmation of their decision to bring Beckham to North America as it shows he is still a player of international class. But beyond the upcoming games against Brazil and Estonia, Beckham’s recall has the potential to cause havoc with the club's and the league’s plans.
When the decision was made to sign Beckham earlier this year it was surely predicated on the fact that his international career was ended and that his body and soul would be dedicated to MLS.
But given McClaren’s about-face it is difficult to see how he could possibly dump Beckham again before Euro 2008 qualifying is complete at the end of this year. That means that Beckham will miss games against Colorado Rapids, Chivas, Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls – all while being paid by the Galaxy.
It would also mean that should the LA Galaxy reach the MLS Championship game scheduled for November 18 in Washington Beckham’s availability would in doubt given FIFA regulations for international call-ups. England is scheduled to play their final and possibly crucial qualifying game against Croatia at Wembley three days later.
And if that is not enough to make MLS and Galaxy officials hyper-ventilate then how about the prospect of Beckham missing a month in the summer of 2008 at the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland?
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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