On 15 September 2021, in the group stage of the 2021/22 Champions League, a match in Group F, the Swiss Bernese youth football team welcomed the Red Devils Manchester United at home. United were in good shape, having just welcomed back former Number 7 Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of the season. As soon as Ronaldo returned, he showed extremely good form, scoring goals in succession. Everyone believes that in the Premier League, Manchester United, which is not afraid of opponents, in this Champions League group game, in such a situation of strength and weakness, it is a foregone conclusion to take all three points.
The result is such an unknown Bernese young man, but let the Red Devils burst out in the Champions League. The score was 2-1, and the Bernese youth beat the powerful Manchester United at home to manchester United, who owned Ronaldo. It was a victory for the young people of Bern, and it was also a victory for Swiss football.
Speaking of the city of Bern and Swiss football, although they are not too dazzling in the entire European giants, they still occupy a place, and their football is respected by their own people and has become the pride of the people.
The Bern Youth Club was founded on 14 March 1898. The club's first match was against FC Viktoria on 17 June 1899. In the history of Swiss football, the youngsters were the first teams to have a glorious history, winning the Swiss League for three consecutive years in 1909, 1910 and 1911. Since then, it has laid the foundation for the lofty status of young people in Swiss football.
In 1925 the club moved into the newly inaugurated wankdorf stadium and changed the team's name from "FC" to "Bern Sports Club" (bsc) because the club had not only football teams, but also boules, handball and hockey.
The youth clubs ushered in their second golden age in the 1950s, winning the Swiss Cup titles in 1953 and 1958 and winning the Swiss League for four consecutive years from 1957, the heyday of the young people of Bern. But then for a long time, the young people of Bern fell silent.
In 2018, Bern won the Swiss Premier League for the first time in 32 years. Then, on 28 August, the team defeated Dinamo Zagreb 2–1 away from home, eliminating the opponent 3–2 on aggregate over two legs and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time. After regaining the league title and reaching the Champions League, the young bernese are once again in the spotlight, once again beating the top of Swiss football.
Bern's youngsters' home stadium, van Kodov Stadium, is the second largest football stadium in Switzerland and has a capacity of 31,000 spectators. The stadium was reopened after reconstruction in 2005, and two years later the installation of the top solar power generation equipment was completed, equipped with 7930 solar modules, with a total installed capacity of 1.3mw, which can generate more than 800,000 kWh of electricity per year. Some of the houses around the stadium have electricity from this stadium. Gaining the support of the people is also beneficial to the people, which is an important reason why Swiss football can be passed on from generation to generation.
Switzerland is a small country with a population of only 8 million, but their status in international football and the achievements of the national team make their fans extremely proud. Just as the so-called small countries also have big dreams, Swiss football has also blossomed in the midst of being surrounded by many giants in Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
The Swiss men's national football team was founded in 1895 and the Swiss Football Association was one of the founders of FIFA in 1904. In 1905, the Swiss men's national football team made its debut, eventually losing 1-0 to the French national team. Historically, Switzerland has been a World Cup finalist 11 times, three of which have reached the quarter-finals. All three of these excellent results were achieved early in the World Cup (1934, 1938, 1954).
German coach Heathfield has coached Switzerland since the summer of 2008, leading the team to the final round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which is also the second consecutive time that Switzerland has advanced to the final. Switzerland reached the round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was eliminated by Ukraine on penalties. The Swiss squad is a combination of youth and experience, and the strength cannot be underestimated. They have good young people like Baneta and Benagglio, as well as experienced combinations like Frey and Nkufo. Striker Alexander Frey is the leader of the team, he is the swiss national team goal record holder and captain of the national team, scoring five goals in this World Cup qualifier. He scored five goals with his forward partner Nkufo, who formed a stable attacking pair with Frey.
In the 2010 World Cup, despite a 1-0 defeat to the final champions Spain in the first match, they lost 0-1 to Chile and Honduras 0-0 and missed the round of 16. Although Switzerland did not qualify, it was the only team that beat Spain and scored a Spanish goal in that tournament. You must know that in that World Cup, the Matadors Army was the team that finally won the Hercules Cup.
In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Switzerland defeated Ecuador 2-1 in the first game, but the second game was won by neighboring France with a score of 5:2, and in the last game, they beat Honduras 3:0 to qualify as the second in the group.
In the quarter-finals, they faced a formidable opponent, Argentina with Messi, and the tenacious Swiss withstood Argentina's 90-minute wave of fierce attacks, dragging the match into extra time. However, in the final moments of extra time, Argentina's Di Maria staged a deadlock, and the final score was fixed at 1:0, and the Swiss team was unfortunately eliminated. But the Swiss team's outstanding performance in this game and the spirit of never giving up have been unanimously recognized and respected. They showed the Argentines how tough football is in this small country.
Remembering the glorious history of the World Cup, the Swiss team's record in the European Cup is somewhat unsatisfactory. The Swiss reached the finals twice in 1996 and 2004 and ended with a group exit. In 2008, at the European Championships jointly organized by the country and Austria, the first two games lost to the Czech Republic 0-1 and Turkey 1-2 respectively, ending the European Championship trip ahead of schedule. This was the first consecutive european championship final stage of the 2008 European Championship, and the 2008 European Championship was also the third time in their history that they had participated in the final round of the European Championship.
But at this summer's European Championship, after the Swiss team broke through from the group stage, in the quarter-finals, they unexpectedly pulled down the World Cup winner, and france, which is also the favorite to win the European Championship. They equalized in regular time to draw 3-3 with France. Later, he narrowly defeated France in a penalty shootout, reached the quarter-finals, and beat the biggest favorite, making everyone look at this Swiss team in awe.
Swiss football has been able to re-enter the competition stage in recent years and achieve good results, mainly thanks to their youth training system, which has allowed Swiss football to achieve a "bumper harvest" after entering the 21st century. In the 2002 European U17 Championship, the Swiss u17 team won the crown, it is the growth of this group of players, so that the strength of the Swiss team by leaps and bounds, to Sendros as the representative of the Swiss players in the 2006 Germany World Cup did not lose a goal, all the way to the round of 16, but unfortunately the final penalty lost to the Ukrainian team. Since then, Swiss football has been on the right track again. After entering the 21st century, they have repeatedly overturned the strong teams in the competition, and the world champions Spain and the world champions France are undoubtedly not witnesses to the success of the Swiss football youth training system.
In the movie "The Miracle of Bern", the Germans successfully reversed the invincible Hungarian team with strength and "intrigue", and staged the most incredible counterattack in the history of the World Cup final. Although that shocking final did not have much to do with Swiss football, Bern has since become synonymous with a miracle, and I believe that in the future, with the continuous cultivation and efforts of Swiss football, their young people can also bring Swiss football a Bern miracle of their own.