World Cup Team Profiles: Group H: Switzerland

Teams / Ari Last / 15 March 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

If in Spain, Group H holds the tournament's most exciting side, in Switzerland, it possesses it's most mundane...

They've got a highly skilled and successful coach, two decent strikers and are notoriously difficult to break down, qualities which make Switzerland's price of [2.58] to qualify from Group H sound about right. As does the [310.0] on them to win, bearing in mind that unlike other underdogs, Switzerland do not possess the element of surprise which on occasion, can propel teams into the unexpected.

Nation: Switzerland

Also known as...
'Schweizer Nati'

Route to South Africa...
After letting a lead slip late on in Israel which they followed up with a home defeat to Luxembourg, it seemed certain that the Swiss would be staying at home this summer. To their credit though, they picked themselves up from the humiliation to embark on a five-game winning spree, including very impressive back-to-back victories over Greece. They booked their place at the World Cup with a 0-0 draw with Israel in Basel.

World Cup Pedigree...
The Swiss have appeared in eight previous tournaments although to date they have failed to pull up any trees. They did reach the last eight in 1934, 1938 and 1954, although since then they've been disappointing, though they were unlucky to lose on penalties to Ukraine in the second round last time out.

They'll be relying on...
Not only Alexander Frei, but Blasie N'Kufo as well. Frei - Switzerland's all-time leading scorer - has been his nation's talisman for over a decade now but Congo-born N'Kufo's rise to prominence could finally ease the burden which in the past has proved too big for Frei to carry in major tournaments.

Something you may not have known is...
In 2006, Switzerland set a new record for being the first team to have ever exited the World Cup having not conceded a single goal. In the group stages they drew 0-0 with France, beat Togo and South Korea 2-0 before drawing 0-0 with Ukraine in the second round, eventually losing on penalties.

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