Q'orianka Kilcher - german world magazine

24
2010 FIFA WORLD CUP
SWITZERLAND:
With Ottmar Hitzfeld to the Quarter Finals?
The star of the Swiss is their German trainer: Ottmar Hitzfeld is traveling to the World Cup for
the first time after two champion league victories and seven master titles with Borussia
Dortmund and Bayern München. Since 2008 the coach born in Lörrach near the Swiss border
has been training the Swiss national team, which qualified for the World Cup with two victories
against Greece, whose team also has a German trainer, Otto Rehagel.
He nominated 18 former or current Bundesliga professional players into the team. “Our goal
is to advance to the round of 16. Then we’ll see what happens,” says the 61-year-old trainer.
The team advanced that far in 2006 in Germany. But not only is the trainer position more
prominently filled than at the last World Cup. The same is true of the team. Tranquillo Barnetta,
Eren Derdiyok (22/both Bayer Leverkusen), Diego Benaglio (26/VfL Wolfsburg) and Gökhan
Inler (25/Udinese Calcio) are only the best-known examples of the phenomenon that
increasingly younger Swiss players are switching to teams in
other countries and holding their ground. Captain and center
forward Alexander Frei (30) also played for three years with
Borussia Dortmund and is currently signed on with FC
Basel. The star of the team is Tranquillo Barnetta (25), the
Swiss trainer of VfB Stuttgart, Christian Gross, calls the
“Franck Ribery of Switzerland.” The native St. Gallener
plays in offensive midfield.
www.german-world.com Summer 2010
• SWITZERLAND
AT THE WORLD
CUP IN NUMBERS
World Cup Participation:
9 (8 wins, 5 undecided, 13 losses
— 37:50 goals)
World Cup Victories:
Quarter finals 1934, 1938, 1954
Round of 16 1994, 2006
Record against Germany:
50 matches: 8 wins, 6 undecided,
36 losses — 60:135 goals
Opponents in Preliminary Group H:
Spain, Honduras, Chile
�
GW’s World Cup Tip:
Quarter finals