Saturday 26 June 2010
17th: SWITZERLAND
The kind of team that pre-tournament you'd probably put a bit of money on not to make it through the group stage. I didn't put money on this time, but am not surprised that their World Cup has ended after three games. I don't know whether it's a lack of confidence, of good players or a combination of the two, but the Swiss always seem to qualify for the major tournaments then fail to do themselves justice once there. That said, they did beat the record for the number of minutes in which a goal is not conceded in World Cup finals, 500-odd I believe, stretching back to 2006 when they kept three clean sheets but still failed to make it out of the Group stage. So a big-up for their defence, which can only mean their attack was a big let-down.