"Hopp Schwiiz" in Australia: The Frutigers in Sydney are in it to win it!

"Tell them they're dreaming" is what comes to mind when talking to Martin, Maria and Daniel Frutiger in Sydney. See, they are barracking for Switzerland at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, a team which has not reached the quarterfinals since 1954!

Die Frutigers hoffen auf ein Wunder - oder einfach guten Fussball ihrer geliebten Nationalmannschaft Source: SBS

Daniel Frutiger migrated to Australia in the early 1980s, when his skills as a chef were in high demand. His earliest memories of life in Australia were anything but a bed of (Alpine) Roses:

"When I came to Australia, I had to change as well. I had to accept other ways of being accepted. And, you know, in the early days, maybe they say, 'If you don't like it, you go home. If you don't like it, you go home.' And in Switzerland, you can't do that so much, because it's a very liberal country, it's a neutral country, and everyone expects that Switzerland is doing the best for everyone."

The Frutiger family, including mother Maria and son Martin, is heavily involved in running the Swiss Club of New South Wales. Daniel has been president for the past seven years. He loves the variety of events and gatherings:

"There are a lot of Swiss, about 8,000 Swiss, here in Sydney and around, and we organise a lot of ethnic functions. And we do some fun functions for younger people, for older people, and we have a few normal things which we do every year. Like, the 1st of August, we have our national day, which is very well received. There's about 1,500 people. We have a farmers breakfast, which the Swiss Club organises, and there's about 150 people every time. And we do something right without even cooking for it, so that's pretty good." (laughs ...)

But back to the World Cup in Russia, which in Australia starts on 15 June (1AM AEST) and ends one month later with the much-anticipated final on 16 July (1AM AEST).

Switzerland is in group E

Brazil-Switzerland: 18 June, 4am AEST

Serbia-Switzerland: 23 June, 4am AEST

Switzerland-Costa Rica: 28 June, 4am AEST

Are there any events planned around those matches in Sydney? Of course!, the Frutigers say.

Martin is the webmaster for the Swiss Club, and he intends to use his skills to rally the Swiss living in Sydney and beyond:

"I really hope so. Yeah, I'm definitely going to put some events up, and, hopefully, the Swiss people in Sydney are interested in coming along and just having a good, fun time together, and maybe a couple of drinks as well. It will be fun."

Erkennungswert 100 Prozent: Die Schweizer Nationalfahne Source: Supplied