How are their preparations going for UEFA EURO 2008™?
• Having won their first three friendlies after the FIFA World Cup finals, a 2-1 defeat against Austria served as a wake-up call for Jakob Kuhn's side.
• Two more losses prompted Kuhn to get tough and drop captain Johann Vogel, while injuries to established stars Ricardo Cabanas and Alexander Frei in 2007 caused further disruption to his plans.
• There have been encouraging results, though, notably a 1-1 draw against Argentina in June 2007 and a 2-1 win against the Netherlands – with Tranquillo Barnetta scoring twice – two months later.
• Before the latter match, Kuhn said of Switzerland's finals ambitions: "Success would be to reach the quarter-finals. Of course it won't be easy, but that has to be our goal. Four years ago, when we really hit a low point, I developed an internal strategy with the title 'European champions 2008'. That was being very optimistic but we have to strive towards big goals and go out there with the necessary confidence to deal with these challenges."
• The intensive friendly schedule continued for the remainder of 2007 with mixed results against Japan (3-4), Austria (3-1), USA (0-1) and Nigeria (0-1). And in 2008, it was more of the same with losses to England (1-2) and Germany (0-4) on the main international matchdays. A 2-0 defeat of Slovakia in their final preparations before the start of the final tournament provided a timely boost.
• Kuhn will retire as Switzerland coach after the finals, saying: "I have promised my wife that I'll call it a day after UEFA EURO 2008™."
How did they perform at the 2006 FIFA World Cup?
• Kuhn led Switzerland to their second successive major international tournament, as they finished unbeaten - and second behind France - in Group 4 before progressing on away goals against Turkey in an incident-packed play-off.
• They topped Group G at the finals in Germany, drawing their opening game 0-0 against France, and then beating both Togo and Korea Republic 2-0 - with Alexander Frei scoring in both games.
• They drew 0-0 with Ukraine in the Round of 16 but lost 3-0 on penalties. Ricardo Cabanas and Marco Streller had their efforts saved while Barnetta's spot-kick hit the crossbar.
• They thus bowed out of the competition without conceding a goal in open play.
How did they perform at UEFA EURO 2004™?
• Switzerland defied the odds to qualify for their second UEFA European Championship finals, coming top of a five-team Group 10 which also featured Russia and the Republic of Ireland.
• Qualification went down to the wire, with a 2-0 win against the Irish on the final day ensuring that second-placed Russia could not catch them.
• Switzerland drew 0-0 with Croatia in their opening game of the finals in Portugal but then lost 3-0 to England and 3-1 to France to finish bottom of Group B
• Johan Vonlanthen scored their only goal of the finals, cancelling out Zinédine Zidane's goal for France before Thierry Henry struck twice late on to win the game. Vonlanethen's goal made him the tournament's youngest ever scorer.
What is their best performance in the UEFA European Championship?
• Switzerland have twice qualified for the finals of the UEFA European Championship, doing so for the first time at the ninth attempt at EURO '96™. They then qualified again for UEFA EURO 2004™. Both of their finals campaigns have started with draws - 1-1 against hosts England in 1996 and 0-0 with Croatia in Portugal - but ended with two subsequent defeats.
Key facts
• This is the first time the UEFA EURO 2008™ co-hosts will have played in consecutive UEFA European Championship finals and the 2008 tournament will be their third finals overall.
All-time record
• Their record prior to the finals of UEFA EURO 2008™ was 80 matches played with 29 wins, 22 draws and 29 losses, with 119 goals scored and 108 conceded.
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