Injuries have limited Switzerland's Raphaël Wicky to just two appearances for Chivas USA in his first season in Major League Soccer. Chris Williams/Icon SMI

By Ridge Mahoney, Special to SI.com, Soccer America

Fifteen years ago, at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, a revival of Swiss soccer began when the national team took a major step toward 1994 World Cup qualification by beating mighty Italy, 1-0.

Not since the 1966 tournament in England had Switzerland qualified for a World Cup, but a squad led by Ciriaco Sforza and Stéphane Chapuisat, and coached by Englishman Roy Hodgson, surprised Italy with a goal by defender Marc Hottiger.

At the time, Raphaël Wicky was a teenager living in his hometown of Leuggern (population: 2,100) and waiting for a chance to launch his pro career. His goal was modest: to find a club. He didn't dream of joining the Swiss team, most of whom played in their native country. Chapuisat (Borussia Dortmund) and Sforza (Kaiserslautern) were among the few employed by clubs in Germany and elsewhere.

"When I was very young, 15 or 16 or 17, I was not really thinking about going to other countries," recalls Wicky, who signed an MLS contract last winter to play for Chivas USA following a 16-year career in Europe "I was just trying to play at a high level. I was just doing my job. I didn't have time to think about it.

"When you start thinking too early or too much about going here or going there, maybe you lose your job. So just play good in the league you are, and then you have some quality you are always going to have opportunities to go into a better league."

Later that year, FC Sion -- which provided the entire back line, including Hottiger -- came calling with an offer, and Switzerland finished second in its qualifying group to reach USA '94. It exceeded expectations by tying the U.S., 1-1, and thrashing Romania, 4-1, to reach the second round, where it fell to Spain, 3-0.

"For the country, it was the first time we had qualified in 28 years to a tournament, so it was a big, big thing," says Wicky, who is anxious to see how his native country performs as Euro 2008 co-host. "That's when the interest about soccer restarted in Switzerland because it's always important the national team makes good results."

Wicky has spent most of his time in the U.S. recovering from injuries and hopes to be fit sometime during Euro '08. He faded from the national-team scene after serving his country for a decade and playing in three major tournaments (the '96 and '04 European Championships and the '06 World Cup). He came to MLS from the German Bundesliga, where he played for nearly a decade with Werder Bremen and Hamburg.

During his career, dozens of players -- both Swiss and foreign -- have come through the Swiss league on their way to bigger, richer clubs. He believes Switzerland's return to major competitions and its status as co-host will again boost the game in his country on and off the field.

"Everybody still has the picture from the ['06] World Cup," says Wicky, who has 75 caps, which puts him among the Swiss top 10 in appearances. "Germany was organizing very well and everybody was watching, so Austria and Switzerland want to do the same and want to give a really good time to everybody who comes to the games.

"For the fans and our players, to have the Euro Cup in your country is once in a life. Austria and Switzerland want to show the foreign people coming in and give a good dimension to them."

Young Debutant

Wicky impressed Hodgson almost as soon as he found regular playing time in Sion's midfield. He debuted for the national team against Wales two days before his 19th birthday but had sat on the bench several times before finally stepping onto the field.

That debut came in a friendly just two months before the '96 European Championship hosted by England, and despite not having played in any of the qualifiers, Wicky made the squad and replaced Chapuisat for the second half of a 1-0 loss to Scotland that eliminated Switzerland at the group stage.

By reaching the '94 World Cup, Switzerland had ended a drought of nearly three decades. Qualification for Euro '96 ended a record of failure that dated back to when the competition began in 1960. Rather suddenly, Swiss soccer gained some street cred.

"When we qualified in 1994, we already had three, four or five players like Ciriaco Sforza already playing in other leagues, but most of the players were in Switzerland," says Wicky. "That's the time when the other leagues started to watch Swiss players. After '94 and '96, a lot more players went to the big leagues."