Swiss have England in their sights

When Switzerland step on to the pitch at the Herfölge stadium to do battle with England in the semi-final of the European Under-17 Championships on Tuesday afternoon, they will be aiming to extend their 100 per cent record which so far has carried them past prominent opponents such as Portugal, France, Ukraine and Georgia.

Swiss fears
In all of those games Switzerland have scored first, but coach Markus Frei fears his troops will react negatively if England take an early lead, as they did in the quarter-final win against Yugoslavia.

'We can beat England'
“Of course I have thought about this," said Frei. "We have so far had the luck and quality to get on the scoreboard first and I sincerely think that we’ll have the necessary morale to get back in the match if we should fall behind. But I hope we don’t have to test that prognosis. We have so far beaten some of the best sides in Europe and I don’t see why we shouldn’t also be able to beat England.”

Two strong defences
The match will more than anything be contested between two strong defences, as both sides have only conceded two goals throughout the tournament. England managed to keep a clean sheet and survive a virtual onslaught in the final dramatic minutes in their quarter-final against Yugoslavia, while Switzerland revealed terrific defensive form when they kept Georgia from having a single shot on target in a comfortable 3-0 win.

Magic Rooney
English coach Dick Bate, like Swiss coach Frei, has the luxury of picking his starting eleven from an injury-free squad and is not expected to make any changes to the side that overcame the Yugoslavs. That means Chris Hogg and captain David Raven will take over responsibility at the heart of the England defence while the talented Wayne Rooney, the scorer of England’s goal against Yugoslavia, is again expected to provide the magic up front.

Even encounter in the cards
“It’s going to be a very even match” said Bate. "We’ll have to be patient and one goal could very well decide the encounter. The Swiss are on a hot streak after four wins but if we can score first I think they could struggle mentally.”