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Report nowShortly before the start of the World Cup, Admir Mehmedi and Dani Gygax look back at past World Cups - and forward to the tournament. Both believe the national team can do much more than just reach the knockout phase.
"I'm choosing the 2014 squad, which I was also a part of. Why? Because with Granit (Xhaka), Shaq or Ricci (Rodriguez) they had really incredibly talented young players, paired with the experience of Diego Benaglio in goal, Stephan Lichtsteiner, (Valon) Behrami ... It was a cool construct. If we hadn't been knocked out in extra time against the eventual World Cup finalists Argentina, it would have been an incredibly exciting campaign."
"There would also have been opportunities in 2006 if we had beaten Ukraine. Then a lot of things would have been possible. There were a lot of French fans in Cologne because you had to buy the tickets in advance and everyone expected France to win the group, which we did. Funnily enough, we also had France in the qualifiers. You had a very strong French team there, similar to this year. In terms of the names, they were of a very high caliber. If only it hadn't been for the stupid penalty shoot-out ..."
"Definitely the group stage. The semi-finals are also possible. Many players like Freuler, Xhaka and Akanji have an incredible amount of experience. In addition, the young guns all around, plus Embolo up front, who have now played many finals - they can already achieve an exploit that many experts - apart from us Swiss - don't have on their radar."
"After all these quarter-final dilemmas, the semi-final should be the goal. It's crazy, we're a small country, but we have so many good footballers playing in top leagues abroad. The group is tricky. Nevertheless, the third-placed team can still qualify. Anything other than progressing would be a disaster. With a bit of luck of the draw, who knows... What's more, Switzerland have always played well against big opponents. The minimum target is the quarter-finals. I have great faith in this team. "
