Stars grace Swiss exhibition

Switzerland has been staging its national exhibition, Expo 02, during the year – and football has naturally been one of the national pastimes that has taken pride of place.

Major contribution
The Swiss Football Association, in tandem with some of the country's leading footballers and many legendary world names, past and present, has been making a valuable contribution to the success of the exhibition and its various events throughout the country.

All-star match
The highlight of football's involvement in Expo 02 was an all-star match between a Swiss team and an international All-Stars team, watched by 4,000 fans in Yverdon, in the west of the country. The Swiss team featured national stars Stéphane Chapuisat (BSC Young Boys) and Ciriaco Sforza (1. FC Kaiserslautern), as well as national-team players from the recent past in Dominique Herr, André Egli and Kubilay Türkyilmaz, and Swiss stars of yesteryear such as Karl Odermatt and Gabet Chapuisat, father of the current Swiss striker.

'Who's Who'
Lining up against the Swiss team was a veritable 'Who's Who' of international football – Joseph Antoine Bell (Cameroon), Giuseppe Bergomi, Moreno Mannini and Marco Branca (Italy), Aron Winter (Netherlands), Basile Boli, Jean-Pierre Papin and Bernard Lama (France), Lothar Matthäus and Hansi Müller (Germany), Zvonimir Boban (Croatia), Georghe Hagi (Romania), Dragan Stojkovic (Yugoslavia), Abedi Pele (Ghana) and Toni Polster (Austria).

Star coaches
Ex-Swiss goalkeeper Erich Burgener and current Swiss national-team coach Jakob Kuhn directed the Swiss team, with Liverpool FC coach Gérard Houllier and former Internazionale FC great Giacinto Facchetti taking charge of the All-Stars lineup. The match, watched by prominent members of the political and football world, ended in a 5-2 win for the All-Star squad.

Autograph hour
Other highlights in Yverdon included an 'autograph hour' with Ciriaco Sforza, Jakob Kuhn and Kubilay Türkyilmaz, while visitors were also given the chance to have their photograph taken with the Swiss Cup.

Nationwide tour
The Swiss FA toured the country in the run-up to the exhibition. At four venues – the Swiss federal capital Berne, Lausanne, Tenero and Greifensee – hundreds of people took part in a precision shooting competition, while the Swiss Soccer Roadshow also proved a popular attraction.

Exhibition tournaments
Special exhibition tournaments featured the senior women's national team and mixed teams of veterans, regular players, women and girl players, with recent Swiss internationals Christophe Bonvin, Adrian Kunz, Thomas Wyss and Pascal Thüler taking part in the festivities.