ANALYSIS-Soccer-Group A-Swiss and Turks play down revenge fears

By Mark Ledsom

LUCERNE, Switzerland, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Switzerland and Turkey insisted they would put their acrimonious past behind them after being pitted against each other in the group stages of Euro 2008.

Tournament co-hosts Switzerland were joined in Group A by Fatih Terim's Turkey, reviving memories of the post-match brawl in Istanbul that marred Switzerland's qualification for the 2006 World Cup.

Group A was completed by Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal and 1996 finalists the Czech Republic.

Turkey were ordered by FIFA to play their three subsequent home matches outside of the country as punishment for the fighting that led to Swiss defender Stephane Grichting being hospitalised after a kick in the groin.

Turkish midfielder Emre Belozoglu and Swiss counterpart Benjamin Huggel were both handed six-match bans, later reduced to four games, for their part in the post-match violence that started on the pitch following the final whistle before spilling into the players' tunnel.

"There is no problem between Switzerland and Turkey," Swiss coach Koebi Kuhn said following's Sunday's draw. "Too many people have been fixating on things that should have been long forgotten."

Kuhn's captain, Alex Frei, agreed -- up to a point.

"Obviously it will be hard for the players who were directly involved like Stephane Grichting and Benjamin Huggel to forgive and forget what happened in Istanbul," Frei told Reuters.