Switzerland

Undoubtedly, the Swiss are the most boring football team to watch this tournament. Their last appearance in Germany 2006 encapsulated perfectly what this nation is all about, drawing 0-0 with France, yet beating Togo and South Korea both 2-0 to progress to the last 16. The game against the Ukraine was eventually decided on penalties after 120minutes of mind-numbing goalless boredom. Ukraine missed their fair share and still managed to go through as the Swiss scored none in the shootout.

So, as you may guess, Switzerland are not a team full of attacking flair. They were the only side in Germany 2006 not to concede a goal in regulation play, a fine achievement. They grind out results and defend solidly. Unlike some of the other nations who defend on the basis of physical strength – such as Greece and Serbia – Switzerland rely on ball possession. What is missing is attacking pizzazz.

Inler and Fernandes control games from the centre of the park, yet they struggle to know what to do with the ball once they receive it, unless a square or backward pass is on. However, both break-up the opponents play well, making it hard for opposing teams to attack the defence.

The two wingers will look to provide some small spark. Tranquillo Barnetta helped Bayer Leverkusen go on an unbeaten 24-match unbeaten run at the start of the season, but this does not mean they won all 24 games, or that he aided the side in an attacking sense. Marco Padalino will make an appearance on the right having scored once in his 7 caps, a seemingly high strike-rate in this side.

The defence is marshalled by Philippe Senderos. The ex-Arsenal man is on his day a fine central defender. However, he can be prone to the odd case of stupidity, which may be why he is a former Arsenal player and not a current one.

The right-back Stephen Lichtsteiner is a capable player for Lazio. He also completed a banking apprenticeship. Unlike Ludovic Magnin who not only plays left-back but also is a qualified primary school teacher.

The strikepartnership of Alexander Frei and Blaise Nkufo score a large majority of the Swiss goals. In qualifying Switzerland scored 18 goals, Frei and Nkufo scored 10. Frei is the national team’s all-time leading goal-scorer, however, he frequently underperforms on the biggest stage and is a race to recover from injury.

Ottmar Hitzfeld is the Swiss national coach. He has won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. He will be looking to use all his tactical astuteness to man-manage Switzerland through to the second round. However, he will rarely change from a standard 4-4-2.

In a recent Four-Four-Two magazine, there were reports on each nation competing in the World Cup. Next to each article was a picture, usually of the team celebrating qualifying. For Switzerland, there was a picture of the national side training in the background, whilst in the foreground there was a cow with a bell round the neck. This is all they could do to liven up the Swiss team.

Switzerland will look to stifle their opponents. Spain will easily overcome this tactic. Chile have a great attacking flair, so expect a game played in two halves, depending on which one Switzerland is defending at the time. Honduras should find Switzerland hard to break down and so this may prove to be Switzerland’s one chance of points in South Africa.

Switzerland will struggle to get out of the group stages. To do so they will have to play some boring football. Only once in qualifying did they score more than 2 goals – they scored 3 against Luxembourg – however they never let in more than 2 either. So, they won’t even be entertaining in a embarrassing big loss way. Therefore, taking all this into account, Switzerland may be one team I may not mind missing during the tournament in South Africa.