Despite 1-2 record, Swiss squad’s attack to be feared
Don’t let Switzerland’s onewin, two-loss record in Group C play fool you.
Canada will face a tough Swiss side come Sunday at BC Place Stadium in their Round of 16 match.
Switzerland knows how to score, and the team’s No.-19 FIFA world ranking is meaningless. The Swiss are better than that.
Many people dismissed their impressive World Cup qualifying run because they played in a group with outclassed teams from Israel, Serbia and Malta, along with decent squads from Iceland and Denmark.
Switzerland scored 53 goals and surrendered just one in 10 qualifying games.
The Swiss made their Women’s World Cup debut last week against the defending champions from Japan and gave the Nadeshiko everything they could handle before losing 1-0. Switzerland dominated the second half, with the game’s only goal coming from a controversial first-half penalty call.
Switzerland lit it up against Ecuador in a 10-1 thrashing of the amateur South American side before blowing a 1-0 halftime lead over Cameroon and losing 2-1. Ramona Bachmann, who almost literally ran circles around Japanese defenders, leads a four-pronged Swiss attack that also includes Fabienne Humm, Lara Dickenmann and Ana Maria Crnogorcevic.
Humm scored three goals against Ecuador in a World Cup record time of just five minutes. Bachmann scored twice in just one minute.
Swiss defenders and midfielders don’t get the same credit as the team’s attacking players and they can be vulnerable to quick counters. But head coach and former German international Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has employed a consistent German style of play that demands fitness so team members can be effective two-way players.
Standout centre back Kadeisha Buchanan and the rest of Canada’s back line could have their hands full if the Swiss attack kicks into gear. If Canada wins this game, it will probably have to score at least twice as Switzerland has been shut out just three times in its last 33 games.