Switzerland – Turkey Preview (perhaps the REAL final for us)

The results don’t discourage Tranquillo Barnetta: “There will be a hot atmosphere dominating us, both inside and outside the stadium. The Swiss fans are convinced that they won’t give up the fight”.

History brings us back to that terrible brawl that followed the end of Turkey’s World Cup ambitions in Istanbul, November 2005. On this matter Barnetta said: “Of course we haven’t forgotten that match and what happened there, but this is a different game, even if it is a sort of final again.” His thoughts are echoed by Fenerbahce midfielder Ugur Boral: “We have forgotten about what happened, we are going to play a group game against the host nation — that’s all.” The Turks won’t forget that following investigations they were held mostly responsible for what happened that day and, as if it weren’t enough, most of the players are the same.
Fatih Terim, the Turkish coach, has expressed his sympathy to Kobi Kuhn following Switzerland’s opening defeat against the Czechs and admitting that the Swiss were the unlucky losers. He also feels sorry for Kuhn’s terrible personal drama, with the Swiss coach thinking about his wife in a coma, in a Zurich hospital.

Obviously Kuhn’s choices will entirely depend on the absence of Frei and all that ensues. He is struggling to find the ideal line-up without counting on his best player, a very hard concern. Will Switzerland be aggressive from the start and play double or quits, or will they sit back in the comfort of their safe defence and patiently await Turkey’s first mistake?
The only thing that’s for sure is that Switzerland attack needs to be strenghtened and nurtured with confidence by the coach, the rest of the team, the fans and the media.
The team will have to defeat and put under pressure a weakened Portugal team and a Turkish team still licking its wounds, possibly with an early goal.
Barnetta shares his opinion with us. “Turkey play an attacking game which is good for us,” said the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder.
“Portugal had a lot of space against them so we need to keep it tight at the back and be quick to attack when when we win the ball. We need an absolute determination to score.”

The atmosphere in the stadium would be electrified and the opponents would be put in a tight spot, especially since Swiss crowds are reputed to be cold and distant, watching the game rather than being part of it. The football fever is a mild one for now and the mercury column in the thermometer measuring it is bound to rise if the team gives the country an opportunity to do so.

The dramatic irony in this game, since hopefully it will be irrelevant to the players themselves but obvious to the fans, is that Switzerland will heavily rely on three players with a Turkish passport who have chosen to defend the white cross rather than the white crescent moon (no inherent religious meaning): Gokhan Inler, Hakan Yakin and Eren Derdiyok.

Egoistically speaking, there is some good news from the Turkish camp, Emre Belözoglu suffers from a harmstring injury and will miss tonight’s game. Gökhan Zan is also injured and Servet will probably not be fit for the game and might even miss it.
Concerning the injury of the first player Terim says: We are not happy but there is nothing we can do about it. I don’t know if he will play in the following match, the medical team don’t think so, but they will try, but not having him here is not just a question of having one player out and one player in – the role he plays is not that simple.”
Ayhan Akman will probably take up Emre’s skipper role while Emre Aşık and Emre Güngör might hold the reins of the central Turkish defence.
However, Turkey lost its opening games at Euro 2000 and at the 2002 World Cup but still progressed from their group: “Turkey teams have lost their first match in the past and gone through so there is no reason why we cannot do it again, it seems the European Championship will have to start for us with the Switzerland game.”

The final big doubt now is whether Ludovic Magnin will be the new captain following Frei’s injury. He appeared to be rash and nervous against the Czechs although he has the charisma and the experience to handle the team and become the intermediate between Kuhn and his team.
Interview on this matter the Stuttgart player said: “Of course, I will wear the armband on the pitch, but Alex is still there and we are captains on the same level” while Frei replied “Ludo is old enough. He has done his job as a vice-captain extraordinarily well. I will exercise the necessary influence from outside of the pitch. But I won’t take my role too seriously. It’s not about Alex Frei, it’s about the team and Ludo is the team’s captain now.”

Zuberbuehler also spoke about the game: “I am sure it will be a super game. I am really looking forward to it as both sides lost their opening game and both will be playing to win. We much prefer it when a team wants to play.”

Last but not least, defender Senderos, interviewed by tsr.ch said: “No time to make calculations. To qualify, we have to defeat Turkey and Portugal. Wednesday’s task is simple: win to survive”.

“We will be ready for the Turks in the same way as we’ve been ready for the Czechs. Saturday the game went amiss. We have to be more incisive in the opponent’s half and take care of the last pass.”

Senderos warns Switzerland about Nihat: “Nihat is a great player if he’s given space to move. He is very dangerous with his runs and his excellent when he plays with Emre”.

“Switzerland is not a real defensive team. We were the ones who controlled the game against the Czechs. We will attack the Turks.”

With much delight he recalls the first leg of the World Cup Playoff in 2005 when Switzerland surprisingly defeated Turkey 2-0: “That game has to be our reference. The players have to forget the Istanbul outburst even though it was to be expected that the media would bring back the event.”

Let’s hope Switzerland and Fair Play will triumph.

Enjoy the game and follow WorldCupBlog’s entertaining liveblog.