World Cup ’94 : WORLD CUP USA ’94 / GROUP A PREVIEW : Nobodies No Longer : In Earning First World Cup Berth in 28 years, Swiss Prove They Can Produce

One little tabloid newspaper report and the Swiss national soccer team was catapulted into a debate that was anything but neutral.

Coach Roy Hodgson, it was reported, had issued a directive. No sex for his players from early June until the conclusion of the World Cup. The ensuing worldwide uproar--sprinkled with knowing chuckles--temporarily threatened to overshadow the fact that the Swiss would be in the event for the first time in 28 years.

What kind of headlines were next?

Strikers Who Love Too Much ?

Last Tango in Zurich ?

Oprah and Geraldo, however, can rest easy. Hodgson, stunned and irritated by the attention “this rubbish” was receiving, relaxed the all-out decree and limited the ban to simply the day before games.

If it were only so simple to handle the larger challenge at hand. The Swiss will be playing the United States in its World Cup opener June 18 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.

While it won’t be as disquieting as playing Italy in Rome, being indoors in humid conditions against the host country in a rare morning game (11:30) is an imposing enough test in itself. Swiss soccer fans, though, were able to gain some measure of comfort when FIFA recently granted special permission to jangle cowbells at World Cup matches.

To get here, Switzerland had to maneuver through a rugged qualifying group. It finished one point behind Italy, scoring 22 goals and giving up seven in 10 qualifying matches. The Swiss team went 6-1-3, losing once to Portugal but also defeating Italy, 1-0. Perhaps the turning point came against Italy in Cagliari on Oct. 14, 1992, when Switzerland took a 2-0 lead before finishing with a 2-2 tie. Beforehand, Swiss defender Alain Geiger watched a television program promoting the match and heard his team called “nobodies.”

That’s obviously not true anymore. But the Swiss national team certainly did not have much recent credibility until Hodgson took over two years ago from former German World Cup star Uli Stielike. Hodgson, a cigar-smoking Englishman, is credited with reshaping the team’s mental state, providing an infusion of confidence.

The Swiss have what is considered a good blend of youth and experience, relying on four players from the German Bundesliga: forwards Stephane Chapuisat and Adrian Knup, and midfielders Ciriaco (Ciri) Sforza and Alain Sutter.

To have any success against the Swiss, it generally is agreed that Chapuisat, who scored 17 goals with Borussia Dortmund this season, must be contained. The 24-year-old is blessed with an impressive pedigree and already has demonstrated star qualities, having been voted the top player in the Bundesliga in 1992-93.

His father, Pierre-Albert, a former Swiss international player, was known as being a hothead, but Stephane has earned a reputation as a calm, left-footed sniper. He is also versatile, capable of playing up front or on the left wing.

Yet Chapuisat isn’t a solo act; he is surrounded by an impressive supporting cast up front. Knup, 26, scored 11 goals in 11 games in his first season with Switzerland in 1991. He is strong in the air, and a broken cheekbone suffered last year against Portugal has not caused him to physically back off.

Sforza, 24, considered a superb playmaker, can play in support of his strikers at midfield or drop back as sweeper. His skills have improved rapidly, and he scored eight goals this season in the Bundesliga. Sutter, with his long, blond hair, is probably the most recognizable player on the team. Once regarded as a child prodigy, the left-footer made his national debut at 17, playing in the Swiss first division with the Zurich Grasshoppers.

The defense is not as highly regarded. The back four could be Geiger, the team’s captain; Dominique Herr, Yvan Quentin and Marc Hottiger. There is also Andy Egli, a 36-year-old veteran defender, who has survived two knee operations and a newspaper poll in January in which 6,000 readers were surveyed and 79% voted in favor of dropping him from the national team.

Goalkeeper Marco Pascolo, who once played for Hodgson at Xamax Neuchatel, has been hampered by an injured Achilles’ tendon, missing a June 3 tuneup against Italy.

This will be Switzerland’s seventh appearance in the World Cup. It has reached the quarterfinals three times (1934, 1938 and 1954) but most recently appeared in the event in 1966. That year, the accomplishment was marred when two star Swiss players were suspended for breaking curfew. Without them, Switzerland lost to West Germany, 5-0.

The most impressive World Cup for Switzerland was in 1954, when it played host to the event. The Swiss reached the quarterfinals by beating Italy twice, then lost to Austria in a highly unusual match. Austria won, 7-5, after it trailed, 3-0, within the first 23 minutes.