Euro 2008 Preparations:
Having won their first three friendlies after the FIFA World Cup finals, a 2-1 defeat against Austria served as a wake-up call for Jakob Kuhn's side. Two more losses prompted Kuhn to get tough and drop captain Johann Vogel, while injuries to established stars Ricardo Cabanas and Alexander Frei in 2007 caused further disruption to his plans. There have been encouraging results, though, notably a 1-1 draw against Argentina in June 2007 and a 2-1 win against Holland – with Tranquillo Barnetta scoring twice – two months later. Before the latter match, Kuhn said of Switzerland's finals ambitions: "Success would be to reach the quarter-finals. Of course it won't be easy, but that has to be our goal. Four years ago, when we really hit a low point, I developed an internal strategy with the title 'European champions 2008'. That was being very optimistic but we have to strive towards big goals and go out there with the necessary confidence to deal with these challenges." Kuhn will retire as Switzerland coach after the finals, saying: "I have promised my wife that I'll call it a day after UEFA EURO 2008."

Best Euro Championship:
Switzerland have twice qualified for the finals of the UEFA European Championship, doing so for the first time at the ninth attempt at EURO '96. They then qualified again for UEFA EURO 2004. Both of their finals campaigns have started with draws - 1-1 against hosts England in 1996 and 0-0 with Croatia in Portugal - but ended with two subsequent defeats.