Semi-deranged
Switzerland's peculiarly-named (ghoul-faced) manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, fields a team as wealthy in the unfortunate-name stakes as it is in the chocolate and cuckoo-clock stakes. Eggiman, Grichting and Huggel are ably supported by Pirmin Schwegler, Xherdan Shaqiri and Albert Bunjaku and led by the redoubtable and hilariously-named Hakan Yakin. The Swiss power into the semis.
USA was the form team coming into this competition. With Brad Guzan, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan 'Wall of Sound' Spector, DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey, Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez, the USA pushed hard, and only narrowly lost out in the second semi-final. They earned an honourable third place.