Swiss fans in Dubai show unwavering faith in team

Dubai: Swiss football supporters in Dubai showed an unprecedented confidence in their team before Monday's match against Togo, predicting early that the Swiss would have an easy victory.

And with the first goal scored by Alexander Frei well before half-time, they seemed to be right on the money.

Interestingly, many enthusiasts watching the match at Somerset's at the Movenpick Hotel believed the Togo pay dispute issue could work in the Swiss team's favour.

"Money is quite an important motivator and because they are not getting paid what they want, it could affect the Togolese players' performance," said Swiss Tanya Mueller, who acknowledged happily that this would work to her team's advantage.

But another Swiss supporter Natashcha Kromer said, "This is the World Cup. The teams want their country to be proud of them and so I don't think the money factor is very important here. I am sure the Togolese are giving it their best shot but the Swiss will win. We have a better team," said Natashcha.

Also, despite Togo coach Pfister known for being well-versed on Swiss football, most didn't feel this gave the Togo team any advantage. "He may know a lot about Swiss football but no one can teach the Swiss way of playing to others," Swiss supporter Wandelin Luechinger declared.