Switzerland v Portugal Friendly Nonpreview

Here’s why neutral fans should watch this game:

You shouldn’t. Over on the other side we have a potential bombshell of a match which could, due to a series of tiebreakers, go to penalties in the event that it stands even after the end of the first 90. Penalties in the group stages? Now that’s an important game and one with potential fireworks (I think the defense of the Czech Republic will stifle Turkey while poaching a goal somewhere along the way putting penalties irrelevant, but that point is neither here nor there – unless you enjoy gambling on other people’s predictions).

Switzerland has lost nearly its entire strike force. Captain and all-time scorer Alexander Frei went down in the first game, a sign of things to come. Then Marco Streller went down in between games 1 & 2. And now Eren Derdiyok, Streller’s replacement in the game against Turkey, is iffy. So what you’ve got is one team probably resting most of its big stars and another team resembling a M.A.S.H. unit. So it’s a glorified friendly.

But if you’re going to watch the game, here’s a few thing to keep an eye on:

Home crowd: This’ll be the last chance for the Swiss to cheer on their team, so they’ll probably be raucous.

Ricardo Quaresma: Some people consider him to be on par with Cristiano Ronaldo, just on a lesser team where the ability to exploit is different. You can be the judge, because he’s probably gonna start. Here’s a teaser.

Portugal will spend one half preparing for Germany, the other preparing for Austria. The first half against Germany they’ll try and play equally in both directions, paying more attention to the defensive end. To prepare against Austria they’ll sit Carvalho back with Ricardo and line up 9 at the top of the Swiss box like it’s a firing squad.

Drinking Game: Every time the commentators mention “Luiz Felipe Scolari” and “Chelsea” in the same sentence, take a swig. And if Roman Abramovich walks onto the pitch with a contract for any of the remaining non-Chavski owned Portuguese (loking at you, Deco & Ricky Q), you have to finish your drink.

Valon Behrami walking through the match like it’s a scrimmage: He wants desperately out of Lazio (who wouldn’t?) and any injury puts a kink into things. He’s got enough big clubs that performance won’t matter.

Tranquillo Barnetta playing like an animal for a move to a big club: On the cusp, but he’s a real talent and one of the future stars of the Swiss side. Could maybe kinda sorta push himself into the picture with a big game. Or not.

And last but not least:

The ovation Alexander Frei and the team will get after the game.