Swiss football team

Thinking that at the very least it would be good for a few laughs, I made my way along to the Stade de Genève on Saturday night to see what I assumed would be the Swiss side getting steamrollered by their neighbours to the south and current world champs Italy.

The Swiss were not nearly as bad as I was expecting. In fact they were rather good; organised and fit, running rings around the lacklustre Italians for much of the first half. The 1-1 result was about right, and most agreed the Swiss were the better side.

Gokhan Inhler, currently at Udinese scored a credible drive from outside the box beating several defenders and reserve keeper Marchetti, although it's unlikely it would have beaten Buffon, who coach Lippi wisely kept out of harm's way.

Most impressive was FC Basel striker and Swiss captain Alex Frei (wearing 9), who won several challenges with deft footwork that pretty much outclassed everyone else on the field. He missed Euro 2008 through injury, and I for one would not be remotely surprised to see him featuring heavily in Switzerland's SA2010 campaign, as long as it may last. Group H is tough (Spain, Chile and Honduras) but I'm tempted to have a flutter on the Helvetians reaching the quarters.

The security forces were clearly not expecting trouble, as most of them were over 50 and had been living the good life. Therefore they were rather out of their depth when a well-build Algerian guy invaded the pitch and then tried to run out. He almost made it, by sprinting up the steps towards the oldest looking guard, possibly attracted by his large moustache. Unfortunately for our Algerian friend he turned out to be the head of security and had him on the ground, barely uncrossing his arms. That said, the guy was being pretty hectic and there were lots of youngsters around, so there's a strong argument to say they should have got him under control more quickly.

But, football aside and tough Algerians aside, CHF 100 for row 17 at an international friendly struck me as reasonable, and the fans were as polite, endearing and in tune during the national anthems as you'd expect.

As much as I appreciate the Swiss' ability to melt cheese and yodel, it was pleasing to be surprised by their quality in an arean where, let's face it, I was not being unfairly pessimistic to expect the worst.

(Here's a review of the match by someone who knows what they're talking about)