Swiss confident ahead of final

"We have already beaten France once in this competition - I don't see why we shouldn't be able to do it once again". Swiss coach Markus Frei is not short of confidence when asked to elaborate on his side's chances against France in Friday's UEFA European Under-17 Championship final.

Moral advantage
With five successive wins, Switzerland have emerged as the tournament's biggest surprise package and Frei, who also enjoyed spells as coach of FC. Zürich and FC St.Gallen before taking charge of the Swiss U-16's in 1995, has faith that his players can finish off the job on Friday. "After winning 2-1 [against France in Herfølge during the group stage] we now have the moral advantage," he said. "My players know now that they have the quality to beat France and after five straight wins we are bursting with confidence."

'Difficult to prepare'
Frei's side have taken the lead in each of their five matches and the coach admits that falling behind in the early stages of the final could be a big negative for his team. "Of course it's something I've been thinking about, " he said. "But it's very difficult to prepare for. I can only hope that my players are up for the task but of course I hope that they won't have to go through this test."

Famous victory
Switzerland's success in the tournament has largely been put down to a well-organised team effort and Frei feels that his side must stick to what they know if they are to overcome the final hurdle and seal a famous victory. 

'Our organisation is our playmaker'
"People say to me Switzerland does not have a playmaker, but that is simply not true," said Frei. "Our organisation is our playmaker because, if it was just a matter of comparing our players to the other players in the tournament, then we certainly would not be in the final. Unlike France we don't have a player who can just turn a game around within seconds, so therefore we have to rely on working as a unit."

Interest on the rise
With Switzerland being in a final of a UEFA competition for the first time, media interest is rising in the alpine nation and Frei's s players have suddenly found themselves in the public eye and at the centre of interest from club agents like never before. "Of course we have discussed it because it's something completely new for the players to deal with," he said. "However, I am confident that they can keep cool heads and focus on the final. "

Maximum points
Switzerland earned maximum points from their three Group B matches (against France, Portugal and Ukraine), before beating Georgia 3-0 in the quarter-finals. Boban Maksimovic was the semi-final hero for the Swiss, as he scored twice in a convincing 3-0 victory over highly-rated England. France have coughed and spluttered their way to the final and needed penalty shoot-outs to decide both their quarter-final and semi-final matches.