Fastgoal.com <World Cup 2018> - Group E - Switzerland Team Review

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Switzerland

FIFA World Ranking: 6
Qualifying Average Goals Per Match: 2.00
Qualifying Average Goals Against Per Match: 0.58
Qualifying Top Scorer: Haris Seferovic (4)
World Cup Best Performance: Quarter Finals (1934, 1938 and 1954)

Group E Opponents: Brazil, Costa Rica and Serbia


The Manager: Vladimir Petković
Bosnian Petković is well respected in Swiss football having spent the majority of his managerial career in charge of a variety of Swiss sides. Following a brief spell in the hot seat at Lazio in Serie A – where he led the side to Coppa Italia success – Petković has been overseeing the Swiss national side since 2014.


The Squad:
Pretty strong on paper, with the vast majority of the squad plying their trade in the top European Leagues of Germany, Italy and England.

The Swiss aren’t spectacular, but they are settled, efficient and organised as illustrated by winning nine of their ten qualifying matches and rising to sixth in the FIFA World rankings. In the end they still finished second to Portugal and had to come through a nerve jangling playoff with Northern Ireland to get here.

Full back is a particular strength for the side with both Stefan Lichsteiner and Ricardo Rodriguez solid in defence as well as providing a legitimate attacking threat through their regular surges down the flanks. Johan Djourou and Fabian Schar provide a dependable centre back pairing in between the pair.

If Switzerland could find a prolific striker they would be fancied to at least make it through this group. Haris Seferovic usually gets the nod but Josip Drmic has a far better strike rate and would be the choice of many Swiss fans.


Star Man: Xherdan Shaqiri
Seeming to have been around forever, Shaqiri is still in fact only 26 and therefore approaching his peak years as a player. The Stoke City man won’t be the hardest working player in the side, but he may well be the most crucial to Switzerland’s chances of progression. In a side which often struggles for goals and inspiration, a moment of magic may well be needed and that is Shaqiri’s speciality, particularly on the big stage. Coming on the back of a disappointing relegation with Stoke, this is the ideal shop window for the right sided forward.


Outlook:
Officially ranked 6th in the world, Switzerland should comfortably qualify from this group on paper. However, we suspect it may not be anything like so straightforward as that. Likely to be on the back foot following the first match against Brazil, their qualification hopes will probably hinge on how they get on in their second game against Serbia. There isn’t much between the sides on paper, but we just favour the options possessed by Serbia in midfield and attack. Switzerland may well miss out on the knockout stages.


Group E Prediction: http://fastgoal.com/forum/index.php?topic=2474.0

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