FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifying

[ZuWo]

Switzerland dominated the game until they decided to call it a day after about an hour.

[ZuWo]

Phil, Lief - how do you think SWE vs. AUT will end tonight ?

I'm neither Phil nor Lief but I expect a tie, 1-1.

I expect that Switzerland will seal the deal today. While it's great to qualify for the World Cup the Swiss group is so weak that this can hardly be considered a huge achievement.

[ZuWo]

The Swedes have a player named "Lustig", which means "funny" in German.

Wie lustig!

[ZuWo]

Ottmar Hitzfeld, coach of the Swiss team, announced that he is not going to renew his contract after the World Cup next year. There are rumours that Marcel Koller, the current coach of Team Austria, might be in contention for the job (sorry, Austria!).

[ZuWo]

Good news:



Marcel Koller, the very likeable and good Swiss coach of the Austrian football team, has renewed his contract for another 2 years today.

It was speculated that he might go back to Switzerland after Austria failed to qualify for the WC.

Austria's football association lobbied hard to keep him.

http://kurier.at/sport/fussball/oefb-koller-bleibt-oesterreichs-teamchef/33.336.153

He must be a truly principled man. According to media reports the Swiss Football Association offered him an annual salary that was twice as high as what the Austrians were ready to pay.

[ZuWo]

Roberto di Matteo appears to be favored to become coach of the Swiss football team now. Having been born in Switzerland he has close ties to country. He also has ample coaching experience at the international level so he might be a good pick.