Today we are going to talk about Switzerland, another country that has already played against Brazil in the last World Cup.
SWITZERLAND
- Name written in its native language: Schweiz
- Language: German, French, Italian, Romansh
- Capital city: Bern
- Currency: Swiss Franc (BRL 5.08 – currency exchange on 11/03/2022)
- Main player: Xherdan Shaqiri
- Typical food: Fondue
Curiosities
Switzerland territory was part of the Roman Empire, until the cantons allied with the foreign sovereignty and took an oath that marked the country foundation in 1291.
Switzerland does not have a fixed president, there is a council comprised of 7 members that alternate on an annual basis. Switzerland flag is characterized by a square shape. Apart from the Vatican, Switzerland is the only country that has a square flag.
Switzerland has one of the largest rail networks in all os Europe. It’s possible to arrive in all regions of the country by train. It’s approximately 5,000 km of railways, but the tickets are not very cheap.
Despite being part of the European Union, Switzerland has not adopted the Euro. The currency of the country is the Swiss Franc and, before being adopted in 1850, there were 860 different currencies in the country.
Switzerland has 4 official languages, and the use of each one depends on the region. The South speaks Italian, the North speaks German, and the West speaks French. The passport, for example, has all the 4 languages. It’s another country where you can quote in any of the 4 languages for translation.
The Swiss cuisine has two products very well known, chocolate and cheese. The country is the home of the famous Swiss cheese, which is actually emmental cheese, and the country also has the gruyère cheese, with over 75 different Alpine scents. Switzerland exports over 170,000 tons of chocolate per year, thus being the largest exporter in the world.
The dish we are going to highlight today is the fondue, which was created due to the difficulty of inhabitants from the mountain regions to go to downtown area to get food. As these inhabitants produced cheese, it became common to melt it to eat with bread.
The Swiss team is another one that faced Brazil in the 2018 World Cup in a match that ended up in a 1×1 tie. In the 2018 World Cup, Switzerland classified for the second round along with Brazil. Switzerland lost to Sweden in the round of 16, and Brazil was eliminated by Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Xherdan Shaqiri, who is in the team since 2010, is the main player of Switzerland. Shaqiri has already played for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, and nowadays he plays for Chicago Fire FC, in MLS. In the national team, Shaqiri has already scored 26 goals in 108 matches. Switzerland should be the most complicated opponent for Brazil in the first stage, and is expected to advance to the second stage.
This was Eko’s in the World Cup for Switzerland. If you liked it, follow our social media (Instagram: @ekostraducoes / LinkedIn: ekostraducoes) and come back tomorrow, because we are going to talk about Canada.