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.
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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