Each Wednesday from now until the tournament kicks-off, TheFA.com will be profiling all the countries partipating at Euro 2004.

Switzerland are in Euro 2004 Group B with England, France and Croatia. Their manager is Jacob Kuhn and they have two Premiership players in their squad - Liverpool’s Stephane Henchoz and Bernt Haas of West Brom. They also boast the current Wimbledon men’s singles champion, Roger Federer.

The Facts

Switzerland hosted the 1954 World Cup and were beaten 2-0 by England. When England hosted Euro 96, their first match was against Switzerland and it ended in a 1-1 draw.

In 2002, Switzerland’s Under-17s team became European champions and their Under-21s reached their European Championship semi-finals.

Paul Merson scored England’s goal in a 1-1 draw in 1998, the last time the two countries met.

Switzerland’s first international was a 1-0 defeat against France in 1905. They will meet the French again in their final group game of Group B.

The seven million people of Switzerland speak three languages: French, German and Italian. It is also the home of FIFA, UEFA and the International Olympic Committee.

They qualified for Euro 2004 as group winners ahead of Russia and the Republic of Ireland

The Opinion

The Swiss know better than anyone the importance of timing and West Brom defender Bernt Haas believes the way his side’s fixtures have fallen in Portugal this summer is perfect.

"We know it’s a very tough group for us but we are playing Croatia first and if we can get a good result there, anything becomes possible," he says.

"England and France are the two favourites but for us Croatia has to be the big game. Three points there and we might have a chance by getting a draw against the big guns."

Haas knows all about England. He played for Sunderland in the Premiership and then helped Basle knock Liverpool out of the Champions League.

He also remembers the opening match of Euro 96 when Switzerland, managed by Englishman Roy Hodgson, held England to a 1-1 draw at Wembley.

"I was 17 and just breaking into the Grasshoppers team. I remember watching it on television and being very proud of our team. A year later I was picked for my first international against Finland. To play against England in a major international tournament is a dream come true - I never expected it in 1996."

The Swiss have been rocked by injuries since qualifying but Haas is pinning his faith in a couple of their stars.

"Hakan Yakin is a quality player and he’s been getting experience in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart," he says.

"And our main goalscorer is Alex Frei of Rennes. He has recently scored four goals against Marseilles, who had Barthez in goal. I hope he can score as many against France this summer!"

The Colour

Football is not the major sport in Switzerland despite them co-hosting Euro 2008 - it is ice hockey

Their most popular sports star is tennis ace Roger Federer, who won Wimbledon last year. Ironically, this year’s men’s singles final is on the same day as the Euro 2004 final - most Swiss people expect to have more of an interest in SW19 than Portugal by then.

Many A-list celebrities ‘get away from it all’ by living in Switzerland. Tina Turner, Phil Collins and Roger Moore all live there. Sir Peter Ustinov died at his home there earlier this week.

Sixty per cent of Switzerland is taken up by The Alps

Their most famous football player, Stephane Chapuisat, will turn 35 during Euro 2004 but is still regarded as a certainty to make their squad

The clever Swiss have won more Nobel prizes per inhabitant than any other country

During Euro 2004, the 24th international yodelling festival will be taking place in Geneva.

The Matches

Date

Opponents

Venue

Comp

KO

13 Jun 04

Croatia

Leiria (Magalhães P)

ECF

1700

17 Jun 04

England

Coimbra

ECF

1700

21 Jun 04

France

Coimbra

ECF

1945


The Squad

Player

Club

Posn

Caps

Goals

Fabrice Borer

Grasshopper

G

3

0

Jorg Stiel

B Moenchengladbach

G

15

0

Pascal Zuberbuhler

Basle

G

18

0

Bruno Berner

Freiburg (Ger)

D

12

0

Philipp Degen

Basle

D

0

0

Stephane Grichting

Auxerre (Fra)

D

0

0

Bernt Haas

West Brom Alb (Eng)

D

25

3

Stephane Henchoz

Liverpool (Eng)

D

62

0

Stephan Keller

Zurich

D

3

0

Ludovic Magnin

Werder Bremen (Ger)

D

11

1

Remo Meyer

1860 Munich (Ger)

D

4

0

Patrick Muller

Lyon (Fra)

D

42

2

Roland Schwegler

Grasshopper

D

0

0

Murat Yakin

Basle

D

41

5

Marco Zwyssig

Basle

D

19

1

Ricardo Cabanas

Grasshopper

M

16

3

Mario Cantaluppi

Basle

M

23

4

Fabio Celestini

Marseille (Fra)

M

25

1

Benjamin Huggel

Basle

M

4

0

Johann Lonfat

Sochaux (Fra)

M

15

1

Christoph Spycher

Grasshopper

M

4

0

Johann Vogel

PSV Eindhoven (Hol)

M

62

2

Raphael Wicky

Hamburg (Ger)

M

49

0

Hakan Yakin

Stuttgart (Ger)

M

28

12

Stephane Chapuisat

Young Boys

F

97

21

Alexander Frei

Rennes (Fra)

F

23

15

Leonard Thurre

Servette

F

8

0

Miliam Rama

Thun

F

3

0


Statistics up to date as of Morocco v Switzerland, 18 February 2004