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GENEVA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - New Swiss manager Ottmar Hitzfeld said on Tuesday his accomplishments at club level would count for little as he takes on his latest challenge.
Hitzfeld, 60, boasts one of the sport's most impressive resumes, including Champions League titles with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
However, he said he would be starting from scratch when Switzerland take on Cyprus in a friendly on Wednesday.
"Our aim is of course to qualify for the 2010 World Cup but just because I am the coach that is no foregone conclusion," Hitzfeld told a news conference after meeting up with his squad.
"Switzerland, obviously, doesn't have as large a pool of players as the bigger nations so we have to start well and hope the players stay in good form and play regularly for their clubs.
"I know how to deal with high expectations but I also know you can only hope to meet such expecations through a lot of hard work."
Switzerland, who have been drawn against Greece, Israel, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg in their World Cup qualifying group, are bidding to reach their fourth consecutive major final.
Under Hitzfeld's predecessor Koebi Kuhn, the country qualified successfully for Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup before gaining automatic qualification for Euro 2008 as tournament co-hosts.
Despite a disappointing end to the latter tournament, with the Swiss crashing out during the group stage, Hitzfeld said he saw no need for a major overhaul within the squad.
"I don't think many of our World Cup qualifying opponents can say they have been to three straight major tournaments which shows that the work of Koebi Kuhn should not be taken for granted," Hitzfeld said.
"Wednesday will be a chance though for the players to show which of them can make the decisive steps ahead of our first qualifying match in Israel and which other players offer us good alternatives."
Hitzfeld said he expected to hand international debuts to several players on Wednesday, with uncapped goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic likely to play for 90 minutes.
"Diego Benaglio is still our number one goalie and will be in goal against Israel," Hitzfeld said. "But Jakupovic is a very important player for us, particularly if Diego gets injured, so I want to see how he reacts to this opportunity."
