THERE were wry smiles -intermingled with looks of bewilderment -when the man from one of England’s chirpier tabloids arrived yesterday at the Praia D’El Rey golf and beach complex, where Switzerland are based, clad in lederhosen and clutching a cuckoo clock. Stephane Henchoz, the Liverpool defender, posed politely for photographs, other players nudged each other, stifling giggles. Solace rather than offence was taken.
The traditional cracks about neutrality, efficiency and watches are mostly taken in good part; even the logo daubed across their team coach reads “the Swiss arrive on time”. In football, these stereotypes can be helpful. In qualifying for the European Championship, they finished above Russia and Ireland -their first game in Portugal brought a feisty 0-0 draw with Croatia -yet the assumption lingers that they will be easy pickings.
“It annoys and frustrates us that people think like that,” Bernt Haas, the West Bromwich Albion full back, said, but he also recognises the advantages.
“Hopefully, the English players will think, ‘oh, it’s only Switzerland, they have no big players in their squad and this will be a simple victory’,” he said. “If they do that, things could go the wrong way for them. It is not right to say they are better than us.
“We have had good results. Our under-21 side finished third in the European Championship two years ago, the under-17s won at the same time and FC Basle have done well in the Champions League. But we are a small country and people don’t know what’s going on. When I joined Sunderland (Haas’s previous English club), they asked me where I was from. I said ‘Zurich’. They asked me, ‘Do you go shopping there, where’s Switzerland?’ That’s the mentality of the English people.”
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After two stints in England, Haas, previously a model for Armani and with a former Miss World for a girlfriend, will not be facing the unknown tonight. “They are a really strong side with no weak links, except maybe David James,” he said. “Look at the goals he conceded against France, especially the free kick, when he went to the wrong side.”
With Johann Vogel suspended after his dismissal against Croatia, Koebi Kuhn, the head coach, will select Fabio Celestini, of Marseilles, and may drop Stephane Chapuisat, the forward, to bolster his midfield. “A team like England has many stars and few workers,” Hakan Yakin, the striker, said. “This way, they will never arrive at their highest level because they always treat themselves as favourites.”