Switzerland | VS
| Bulgaria |
| Date/Time: | Sep 6, 2011, 6:30 pm(GMT) |
| Competition: | UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying |
| Live/Repeat: | Live |
| Venue: | St. Jakob-Park (Basel) |
Swiss hope for better against Bulgaria
Having drawn 0-0 in Sofia back in March, Switzerland and Bulgaria will hope that their UEFA EURO 2012 Group G rematch will have a more positive outcome.
• Lothar Mätthaus's Bulgaria took on a Switzerland selection coached by the former midfielder's one-time FC Bayern München coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, but neither pupil nor master could get the upper hand. The most notable incidents in the game came when Alexander Frei was twice denied by home goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov.
• Matthäus and Hitzfeld won German titles together at Bayern in 1999 and 2000, though Matthäus left Bayern for New York MetroStars in the final months of the latter campaign.
• An average of a point a game from their first five fixtures left both sides well off the pace in the battle to qualify for the finals in Poland and Ukraine.
• The teams had faced each other in two competitive games prior to UEFA EURO 2012, having been pooled together in EURO '92 qualifying. Switzerland won both matches: 2-0 at home through goals from Marc Hottiger and Thomas Bickel, and 3-2 in Sofia where Kübilay Türkyilmaz hit a 90th-minute winner as the visitors battled back from 2-0 down.
• They have met in two friendlies since then. Nasko Sirakov and Emil Kostadinov struck to give Bulgaria a 2-0 friendly victory in Berne on 28 April 1992 before the sides drew 1-1 in Geneva on 11 April 2009.
