Chapuisat: Swiss finally united to launch challenge
THE last time Switzerland reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup was in 1954 — but that could be about to change, according to their legendary striker Stephane Chapuisat.
“I think this team is ready for that,” said the former Champions League winner with Borussia Dortmund ahead of tomorrow’s last-16 clash against Sweden. “They’ve now been to four consecutive World Cups. In 1994, we hadn’t been there in 28 years. I think the team now has the experience from tournaments. They’ve always kept getting better.
“It’s a very talented team — a good mixture between old and young, with a lot of quality there, too. They have players as well who have had success with the team who became World Champions at Under-17 level in 2009.”
One of the biggest changes, though, according to Swiss journalist Florian Razinger, has been the way coach Vladimir Petkovic has instilled unity within the squad.
That Switzerland has four official languages — French, German, Italian and Romansh — gives an indication about the diversity present within a country of just 8million.
Add to that three players — Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka, Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri and former West Ham and Watford midfielder Valon Behrami — with Albanian roots, plus striker Haris Seferovic, whose parents moved to Switzerland from Bosnia in 1990, and it is clear to see how this team could suffer an identity crisis.
Petkovic, who took over from the respected German Ottmar Hitzfeld in 2014, speaks four languages and has been key to Switzerland’s rise to sixth place in FIFA’s world rankings.
The turning point was their exit from Euro 2016 at the last-16 stage by Poland on penalties. It was then, according to Razinger, that Petkovic started talking about “pushing tables together”.
“He saw that in one corner was the Balkan group,” he said. “Over there were the German-Swiss and in another the French speakers. He managed to put them all together at one big table.”
Born in the former Yugoslavia himself, Petkovic’s background as a social worker might have helped, too, but 49year-old Chapuisat, who won 103 caps between 1989 and 2004, believes that success has also been firmly based on the coach’s knowledge of the Swiss mentality. “He’s a coach that always tries to play out, tries to go forward, tries to let things flow,” he said.
Suspensions mean Petkovic will not have the right half of his first-choice back four available. Captain Stephan L i c h t s te i n e r, a c l u b team-mate of Xhaka’s next season, along with Fabian S c h a e r mi s s o u t . Fo r me r A rs e n a l defender Johan Djourou is likely to deputise at centre-back, while Michael Lang will replace Lichtsteiner.
On the eve of the tournament, Petkovic spoke of how he wouldn’t be happy with a last-16 exit. Neither will the Swiss fans, given the agonising nature of recent tournament exits: whether the Poland defeat or Angel Di Maria’s 118th-minute winner for Argentina at the last World Cup.
The last time Switzerland played Sweden was in a friendly 16 years ago. The last time they beat them was in a European Championship qualifier in 1994, with a certain Roy Hodgson in charge.
Pe t kov i c , w h o h a d h i s c o n t ra c t extended before t h e i r p l ay- o f f tie against Northern Ireland, could do with victory now if he is to improve his standing even more in his adopted home.