When I think of Switzerland and football the first thing that springs to mind is the Miracle of Berne, and that has nothing to do with the Swiss national team at all.
The Miracle of Berne or the Das Wunder von Bern to give it its proper title, is the name given to the 1954 World Cup final, played at the capital's Wankdorf Stadium, which saw West Germany defeat the best team in the world at that time, the Mighty Magyars of Hungary.
Fast forward to 2010 and the Swiss will be hoping for their own das wunder/il miracolo/le miracle as they take on World Cup favourites, Spain in Durban in their first game of the World Cup. Not only are Switzerland up against a team that has only lost one match since winning Euro2008 but they are up against a team that they are yet to beat in eighteen encounters.
In fact, their record against La Roja is quite dismal. In those 18 matches, 15 of those have been wins, scoring an impressive 45 goals in the process.
Switzerland, who created history in their 2006 by becoming the first team ever to be knocked out of the competition without conceding a goal, will be hoping that history doesn't repeat itself this time around. However, not conceding against the Spanish would be seen as a plus.
This time around the Swiss are under the tutelage of Ottmar Hitzfeld, a man who has tasted European success with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and with that kind of winning pedigree they may feel they have a chance to at least to match the efforts of four years ago and even upset the Spanish in the process.
Qualification saw Switzerland finish top of their group ahead of Greece despite the embarrassment of losing 2-1 to footballing minnows Luxembourg on home turf in the process.
A key component of the impressive (the Luxembourg defeat aside) qualification was Alexander "Mr Switzerland" Frei who scored five goals during the campaign. His country's all-time leading goalscorer and inspirational captain, he is currently playing alongside the Socceroos' Scott Chipperfield at his hometown club of FC Basel.
His first season back at the club at which he made his professional debut, he scored an impressive 15 goals in 19 appearances and the Swiss will be hoping that he can also build on his equally impressive 40 goals in 73 appearances for the national side.
Partnering Frei in attack will be the veteran Congolese-born striker, Blaise Nkufo. Nkufo will be looking to build on the five goals he scored during qualification and the Swiss will be hoping he can take some of the scoring pressure off his captain. Other players to look out for are the brilliantly named Tranquillo Barnetta, Eren Derdiyok and goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.
In their ninth appearance at the World Cup, Switzerland will be hoping that they can combine their defensive record of four years ago with a few more goals and that they will be making history for all the right reasons this time around.
