A fresh gust of wind blew through Swiss football on 15 December 2009 as the country’s brightest young prospects triumphed at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Abuja, Nigeria. That conquest, claimed to huge general surprise, suggested a bright future on the horizon for Switzerland’s senior team, with supporters now patiently waiting for the new generation to come of age.
“You have to let time take its course,” commented Basel striker Alexander Frei, a stalwart in Ottmar Hitzfeld’s current Nati side. “That goes for the development of a young player too. We all needed plenty of matches and lots of practice to carve out a place for ourselves in the professional game. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
For now, Frei’s generation form the backbone of the team, with the accent placed more on experience than the vibrancy of youth as the bid for a place at UEFA EURO 2012 resumes this weekend. At 31, Frei leads the way in the Swiss Super League scoring charts with 16 strikes this term, and he will again spearhead the national side’s efforts along with Marco Streller, 29, and Hakan Yakin, 34. FIFA.com met up with the veteran trio ahead of their trip to Bulgaria on Saturday.
"Experience is definitely one of the keys to success, but not the only one,” said Streller. “I’ve seen carefree young players have just as much impact on a team. I think you need a mix of both.” Frei feels convinced that his years in the game have helped him hone his craft, meanwhile. “Experience is a crucial factor for a striker, for a goalscorer’s instincts,” he explained.
