European Cup opening match of the first half of Switzerland Vs Czech Republic

Johan Vonlanthen Benavidez (born 1 February 1986 in Santa Marta, Colombia) is a Swiss international footballer. Vonlanthen is a striker for Red Bull Salzburg and Switzerland. His stepfather is a Swiss national, giving him the right to play for that country.

Johan Vonlanthen
Personal information
Date of birth	February 1, 1986 (1986-02-01) (age 22)
Place of birth	Santa Marta, Colombia
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Red Bull Salzburg
Number	10
Youth clubs
1998-1999 1999-2001	FC Flamatt BSC Young Boys
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001-2003 2003-2006 2005 2005-2006 2006-	BSC Young Boys PSV ?Brescia (loan) ?NAC Breda (loan) Red Bull Salzburg	37 (6) 29 (6) 9 (0) 32 (6) 39 (6)
National team2
2004-	Switzerland	22 (5)

Club career

Vonlanthen played as a junior for BSC Young Boys in Switzerland. In the 2001–02 season, he made his debut as a 16 year-old in the National League starting eight games and appearing once as a substitute. In the summer of 2003, he was transferred to the Dutch Eredivisie where he would play for PSV Eindhoven. He became the vice captain for the team and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

After a year on loan at Brescia in Italy, Vonlanthen moved on to NAC Breda in the Dutch Eredivise where he would play on loan for the 2005–06 season.

In the summer of 2006, Vonlanthen was transferred away from PSV Eindhoven, having completed loan spells at Brescia and NAC Breda, he now plays for Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga.

International career

On 6 June 2004, Vonlanthen made his debut for the Swiss National Team against Liechtenstein. He came on as a substitute in the 81st minute to replace Alexander Frei. Switzerland went on to beat Liechtenstein 1-0.

In the 2004 European Championships, Vonlanthen became the second youngest player to play in the tournament when he came on as a substitute against England. On 21 June 2004, Vonlanthen became the youngest scorer ever in the championship when he equalised against France, beating the record (set only four days earlier by Wayne Rooney in the England-Switzerland match) by three months.^[1]

Since the European Championships in Portugal, Vonlanthen has managed to hold a regular position in the national team and as well as playing frequently in the under 21’s side.

Vonlanthen was called up to the Swiss squad to play in 2006 FIFA World Cup, however, he was not able to participate due to a hamstring injury.

Eren Derdiyok (born June 12, 1988) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays as striker in the Swiss Super League for FC Basel. He also holds Turkish citizenship.

Eren Derdiyok
Personal information
Full name	Eren Derdiyok
Date of birth	June 12, 1988 (1988-06-12) (age 19)
Place of birth	Switzerland
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	FC Basel
Number	31
Youth clubs
1994-2005	BSC Old Boys
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2005–2006 2006–	BSC Old Boys FC Basel	18 (10) 26 0(9)
National team2
2006–2007 2007– 2008–	Switzerland U19 Switzerland U21 Switzerland	07 0(7) 05 0(7) 02 0(1)

Club career

At 6′ 2″ Derdiyok is a powerful striker who can also fill in a centre-back if needed. He is of Turkish descent so if he ever played in Turkey he would wear the name “Eren” on the back of his shirt instead of his surname. He started his career with Swiss minnows BSC Old Boys at the beginning of the 2005/06 season in which scored 10 goals in just 18 appearances. FC Basel noticed his goal scoring instinct and snapped him up in 2006 at the age of 18. In the 2006/07 season, Derdiyok was used mainly as a substitute, playing only one full game, and averaging a total of 220 play minutes that season. For Derdiyok, the 2007/08 season proved to be a lot more profitable and he received regular playing time. In FC Basel’s main squad, Derdiyok scored his first hat trick playing away against FC Thun on 2 March 2008. On 6 April 2008 he won the Swisscom Cup, his first title.

In April 2008, he was quoted in saying he would love to play in the same team as Newcastle United striker Michael Owen sparking rumours that he could be set to move to England.

International career

Derdiyok has been a regular in the Swiss youth sides for the past few years, scoring seven goals in seven games for the Switzerland Under 19s and an even more impressive seven goals in five games for the Switzerland Under 21s. After impressing in the Swiss Super League for FC Basel and with the Switzerland Under 21 team, Derdiyok was called up and received his first cap for the Switzerland full team against England, in a game at Wembley, on February 6, 2008, at the age of 19. Having come on as a substitute at half time, it only took 12 minutes for Derdiyok to take an excellent early shot (his first), with which he scored. He was included in Switzerland’s squad to play at Euro 2008. He is the youngest player involved in the tournament[1]

[edit] Honours

Team Awards

Basel

• Swiss Cup: 2008
• Swiss Super League: 2008

Individual Awards

Basel

• Swiss Youngster of the Year 2007/08

Marco Streller (born 18 June 1981 in Basel) is a Swiss football striker. He has played for FC Basel and VfB Stuttgart as well as the Swiss national team.

Marco Streller
Personal information
Full name	Marco Streller
Date of birth	June 18, 1981 (1981-06-18) (age 26)
Place of birth	Basel, Switzerland
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	FC Basel
Number	10
Youth clubs
1988–1997 1997–2000	FC Aesch FC Arlesheim
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–2001 2001–2002 2002 2002–2003 2003–2004 2004–2006 2006 2006–2007 2007–	FC Basel Concordia Basel FC Basel FC Thun FC Basel VfB Stuttgart ? FC Köln (loan) VfB Stuttgart FC Basel	01 0(0) 30 (16) 03 0(0) 16 0(8) 16 (13) 28 0(4) 14 0(3) 27 0(5) 23 (12)
National team2
2003–2008	Switzerland	26 (11)

Club career

Streller started his career with local club FC Basel in 2000 where he played one game in his debut season. He left Basel the next season to join feeder club FC Concordia Basel. He scored 16 goals in 30 starts in the Challenge League with Concordia which made Basel sit up and take notice. They bought him back in 2002 but he left in January of the next year to join FC Thun after playing just three games. He scored a decent amount of goals at Thun and was signed again by Basel but this time he was promised first team football. During the 2003–04 season, he scored 13 goals in 16 games, gathering the interest of a handful of Bundesliga clubs including VfB Stuttgart, who eventually signed him ahead of the 2004–05 season. He scored just four goals in 28 matches in his first half-season in Stuttgart and he was loaned out to FC Köln for the remainder of the 2006 season. After returning from Köln, where he made 14 starts, he still failed to impress the Stuttgart supporters and was allowed to rejoin his boyhood heroes FC Basel on a free transfer in June 2007, for his fourth spell at the club.

International career

He currently has 25 caps for the Swiss national team, and played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was in the squad for the 2004 European Football Championship, but pulled out due to injury. During a 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Turkey he was lashed at and kicked by Turkey player Alpay Özalan. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup he missed a spot-kick during his side’s penalty shoot-out against Ukraine. Switzerland lost the shootout. He was included in the squad to play at Euro 2008. He has announced his international retirement after the Euro 2008 despite only being 26, he states he was unhappy at his treatment on the pitch from the Swiss fans.

[edit] Honours

Basel

• Swiss Cup: 2008
• Swiss Super League: 2004, 2008

Stuttgart

• German Cup Runner Up: 2007
• German Bundesliga: 2007

Alexander Frei (born 15 July 1979 in Basel) is a Swiss footballer.

Alexander Frei
Personal information
Full name	Alexander Frei
Date of birth	July 15, 1979 (1979-07-15) (age 28)
Place of birth	Basel, Switzerland
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1?2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Borussia Dortmund
Number	13
Youth clubs
1987–1988 1988-1995 1995-1997	FC Begnins FC Aesch (Basel-Country) FC Basel
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997–1998 1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2003 2003–2006 2006–	FC Basel FC Thun FC Lucerne Servette FC Stade Rennes Borussia Dortmund	011 0(1) 034 0(7) 032 (15) 064 (36) 100 (47) 037 (16)
National team
2001–	Switzerland	058 (35)

Club career

Frei signed a 4-year contract with Borussia Dortmund on 29 June, 2007. Dortmund paid a transfer fee of approximately 5 million euros for him. From the end of the 2006–07 season he has been continually linked with Celtic, whether this move will materialise however is in doubt after Borussia Dortmund released a statement insisting that Frei would go nowhere, even if a club offered 25 million euros.

Frei was the highest goalscorer in the French league for the 2004-05 season with 20 goals, playing for Rennes and was named Swiss Footballer of the year the same season.

He has recovered from a long-term injury this season at current club Borussia Dortmund to score six times in his last eight appearances and prove his fitness for the forthcoming European Football Championships - for which the Schweitzer Nati will be co-hosts along with Austria.

International career

Frei played for Switzerland at Euro 2004 and at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. He scored two goals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, one in the match against Togo, and another a controversial goal against South Korea. Until now he has been capped 56 times for his country (as of May 2008).

Frei is Switzerland’s all time top scorer with 35 goals.[1]

During Euro 2004, in a group match against England, Frei was caught on camera appearing to spit at Steven Gerrard. Although no action was taken at the time, Frei was later charged and given a provisional 15 day suspension by UEFA. Despite this, he was subsequently cleared of the charge on appeal.

Honours

• 2001: Winner of Schweizer Cup with Servette FC
• 2002: Semi-finalist of the European under-21 championship
• 2003: Second highest scorer in Ligue 1 (20 goals) after Djibril Cissé
• 2003: Credit Suisse Player of the Year
• 2005: Top goalscorer in Ligue 1 (20 goals)

Tranquillo Barnetta (born 22 May 1985 in St. Gallen) is a Swiss football player who currently plays as a midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen. His father and mother are of italian origin. Barnetta grew up near by St. Gallen, Switzerland and has been playing for the Swiss national team since 2004.

Barnetta started his career with FC St. Gallen in Switzerland, but he was soon snapped up by the German side Leverkusen. He has also enjoyed a loan spell at Hannover 96.

He is a member of the Switzerland national team and was called up to the squad to participate in the 2006 World Cup, where his penalty hit the crossbar in the shootout with Ukraine in which Switzerland went out 0-3 on penalties. Earlier on, Barnetta had scored the second goal in Switzerland’s group stage win over Togo. On July 4, Barnetta was named as one of the shortlisted players for the tournament’s Best Young Player award.

Tranquillo Barnetta
Personal information
Date of birth	May 22, 1985 (1985-05-22) (age 23)
Place of birth	St. Gallen, Switzerland
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1?2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Bayer Leverkusen
Number	7
Youth clubs
1991-1996 1996-2002	FC Rotmonten St. Gallen St. Gallen
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2004 2004–2005 2005–	St. Gallen Hannover 96 Bayer 04 Leverkusen	60 (12) 07 0(2) 93 (13)
National team2
2004–	Switzerland	32 0(6)

Gelson Fernandes (born 2 September 1986 in Praia) is a Swiss football midfielder born in the Cape Verde islands^[1] who plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League, as well as the Swiss national team.

Career

He signed for Manchester City from FC Sion on 14 July 2007 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around 6 million euros (£4.2m), which would make his sale the second highest transfer in the history of the Swiss League.^{[citation needed]} Following his signing, City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson commented that he thought Fernandes was the “best young player in Switzerland.” ^[2] He made his full debut in the 0-0 draw against Portsmouth. Gelson was also called up to the senior Switzerland national football squad to face the Netherlands on 22 August 2007. He also played in the friendly defeat to England.

His first goal for Man City came in a 2-0 victory against Newcastle after coming on as a substitute. It took just 40 seconds for Fernandes and Kelvin Etuhu to combine for the former to finish from the edge of the box. Gelson scored his second goal in the 1-3 loss to Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium. Vedran Corluka took advantage of a Gael Clichy defensive error, who slipped in a pass into the 6 yard box for Gelson to tuck home. The goal was not enough to secure any points for Manchester City, but showed the City Fans that he was also capable of having an eye for goal like fellow youth midfielder, Michael Johnson.

According to Manchester City teammate Micah Richards, he is fluent in five languages