A match worth watching tomorrow: Switzerland vs Chile

by Foolsgold

A full force Swiss squad featuring Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta will be in Vienna tomorrow evening to welcome the La Roja of Chile to the UEFA 5-star rated Ernst Happel Stadium. The Chileans will feature former Juventus player and all-time top goalscorer, Marcelo Salas, who hasn't played for his country for over two years. From the looks of their roster, it looks like he's going to need to score a couple of more if they are to have a shot at making this a decent match because the rest of the squad has a combined total of 21 career international goals, 14 less than Salas.

Though technically not at home, the Swiss are whole lot closer to Austria than Chile and will more than likely have more fan support and feel more comfortable. Not that they should need it, despite being ranked only two places higher than the Chileans, they are coming off an impressive win over the Netherlands and a draw with Argentina. Chile, on the other hand, last took the pitch in Copa America where they got manhandled by eventual champ, Brazil, 6-1, in the quarters.

Chile has pace with the aptly named 'Speedy' Mark Gonzales leading the way, but the Swiss have been known for their stingy defense anchored by VfB Stuttgart's Ludovic Magnin, hence holding both the highly-skilled attacking Dutch and Argentine sides to a goal a piece. Not to mention their World Cup performance last year, where they didn't yield a goal in any of their four matches including ties with France and the Ukraine. The only negative appears to be the absence of veteran Lyon defender Patrick Müller who is injured.

The best part about this match is both sides are relatively young, which means loads of energy and lots of mistakes, though I see Switzerland making the least amount of them. In the end, all the advantages point to the Swiss, so I'll take them 2-1.

(This game will be on at 12 noon est and I should have a post-match report. Cheers.)

Originally posted here