Swiss dark horses have pedigree

After guiding Switzerland to the finals of the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship for the first time in three years, Yannick Schwery has tipped his free-scoring team to create a few surprises in Belarus this summer.

Prolific strikers
The manner in which the Swiss cruised past defending champions Italy, the Netherlands and Romania in the second qualifying round suggests they possess a generation capable of sealing a place in the semi-finals for the first time. With their exciting strike duo of Maria Crnogorcevic and Ramona Bachmann in prolific form, Schwery's side stunned their opponents by rattling in 16 goals in three games. "We had a difficult group so it was undoubtedly an advantage to play at home," the Switzerland coach told uefa.com. "With Ana Maria and Ramona in attack we are always likely to score, but our defence was also solid. That was the key to our success."

Positive start
The back line is likely to be tested more severely in July. Switzerland have been drawn against neighbouring giants France and Germany – the two most successful nations at this level – and hosts Belarus. Schwery is nevertheless convinced a positive start would pave the way to a last-four berth, saying: "We play Belarus first and need to try and win that. The opening game will be tough and then we have Germany and France. It'll be difficult but the standard is always high when you reach the finals.

'Excellent form'
"We just want to reproduce our excellent form from qualifying and hold our own against difficult opponents," he added. "Our main target is to do everything we possibly can to reach the semi-finals and qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Germany." Whether or not Switzerland succeed, Schwery believes the experience will be enriching for his players. "Competing in a European Championship is so important for their development. They need to pit themselves against the best teams and can only learn from the experience."