Switzerland U17s crowned world soccer champions

Small countries of just 7.7 million people aren’t supposed to become world champions of the “beautiful” game even at under 17 level. But on Sunday, that’s just what happened and in front of 64,000 fans who favoured the opposite team to boot.

“It’s quite simply phenomenal,” said team coach Dany Ryser after the match which ended a tournament in which Switzerland were taking part for the first time. “I think that the victory was well deserved.”

Michel Pont, former assistant trainer for the Swiss national team, told Swisster: “It’s very difficult to believe for a small place like Switzerland and this is the first step from where we really can begin to think larger.”

“Everything is growing because we have had success with the first team. This has attracted money to the sport and now we have a fantastic structure in place,” he added.

A perfect conclusion to the youth competition in Abuja – as far as the Swiss were concerned – was engineered from a corner just after the hour as Haris Seferovic rose to head his side into a lead they were never to relinquish.

It makes little difference now, but Nigeria will argue otherwise. A quarter of an hour after the strike, the home side appeared to have bundled the ball over the Swiss line in a goalmouth scramble. But the equaliser wasn’t given.

The remainder of the match developed into a tense rearguard action for the Swiss who performed with steel and composure to keep the Nigerian trophy holders out and help themselves to a victory that will enter the folklore of Swiss football.

Benjamin Siegrist, awarded the tournament’s golden gloves prize as the tournament’s best goalkeeper, played a massive role in the win. The Aston Villa player made crucial saves in the fifth and sixth minutes and also recovered from a hefty kick to the head.

Nonetheless, clearly the coach had done some homework on the host team. “We really prepared well for this match and our aim was to put the brakes on the speed of the Nigerians,” explained Ryser.

And it’s got to be said the result was no fluke: illustrious scalps including Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Colombia littered Switzerland’s path to the final.

“We’ve fulfilled a dream. It will take a while before we realise what we’ve done,” said Ryser.

Meanwhile, plenty of experts and observers are also trying to get their heads around the fact that Switzerland have won an international football competition.

“Extraordinary” stated the headline in the Tribune de Genève newspaper. “Historic” and “never before” were others around the country.

And what of the future? "I hope these guys will be part of the Swiss selection in 2014 and why not repeat the performance of this tournament," said Ryser.

“We must keep our feet on the ground and remember that it’s only under 17, and they have a lot of work to do before they make the national team,” said Pont

“However, what is so impressive is their technical level and some individual talent that we’ve never had before including Ben Khalifa, Chappuis and Siegrist,” he said.

Teams:

Switzerland: Siegrist, Martignoni (68 Gonçalves), Chappuis, Veseli (78 Hajrovic), Rodriguez, Xhaka (90. Nimeley), Buff, Kasami, Kamber, Seferovic, Ben Khalifa.

Nigeria: Paul, Oliha, Chukwudi, Omeru, Aliyu, Egbedi (71 Kayode), Azeez, Ajagun, Envoh, Omeruo, Emmanuel (77 Otubanjo).