Slovenia Vs. Switzerland

[RobtheAggie]

The first friendly of the year for the national team is 12 Feburary in Slovenia. Köbi Kuhn announced his squad containing:

Golies:
Fabrice Borer (Grasshopper)
Jörg Stiel (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Pascal Zuberbühler (Basel)

Defenders:
Bruno Berner (SC Freiburg)
Bernt Haas (Basel)
Stéphane Henchoz (Liverpool)
Stephan Keller (Zurich)
Remo Meyer (Munich 1860)
Murat Yakin (Basel)

Demis
Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshopper)
Mario Cantaluppi (Basel)
Fabio Celestini (Marseille)
Patrick Müller (Lyon)
Johann Vogel (PSV Eindhoven)
Raphaël Wicky (Hambourg)
Hakan Yakin (Basel)

Attaquants
Stéphane Chapuisat (Young Boys)
Alexander Frei (Rennes)
Léonard Thurre (Servette)

From the last Euro Qualifier there are two changes, Massimo Lombardo is not on the team due to injury. Also Ludovic Magnin will not be there also.

The Slovenian squad has already been named, their coach said, "There are no major differences from the squad I named for the previous matches," Prašnikar said. "This will be a preparatory match for further [UEFA] EURO 2004™ qualifiers so we will be able to see how the team are preparing against a very good opponent."

Here is their squad: Dabanovic, Simeunovic, Bulajic, Cesar, Cipot, Knavs, Vugdalic, Acimovic, Ceh, Karic, Pavlin, Radosavljevic, Rudonja, Sukalo, Zahovic, Zlogar, Cimirotic, Rakovic, Siljak.
Link :http://www.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/News/Kind=1/newsId=51679.html

Link: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=52595.html

[RobtheAggie]

Murat Yankin will not play due to injury. I think his knee is giving him problems.

[RobtheAggie]

Stéphane Henchoz will be the captain. This will be his second time, he was captain against Sweeden on 27 March 2002.

Also Slovenia will be without four players:
Starters:
Amir Karic (midfield)
Mladen Rudonja (midfield)
Muamer Vugdalic (defender)
Fabijan Cipot (defender)

Karic, and Vugdalic have started both Euro matches, while Cipot has started one.

[SwissGCZ]

Due to Mönchengladbach's relegation situation, Jörg Stiel won't make the trip either. Kuhn is fine with this as Stiel is suspended for the Georgia game anyway. So it will be either Zubi or Borer in goal. The keeper playing tomorrow will also be the keeper in the upcoming qualyfing game (unless there's an injury.) Methinks Kuhn will probably pick Zubi.

The game will be in Nova Gorica, right at the Italian border. The tiny stadium (3,000) will host its first international game ever.

I am hoping for a win in this game. There is some payback to be done to Slovenia. In the last WC qualyfing we first blew a 2-0 away lead in Slovenia (2-2 end result), and lost in Basel 0-1 in a pathetic way & fashion...

HOPP SCHWIZ!!!-

[SwissGCZ]

According to an article in Blick, Kuhn could face a difficult player decision in the Georgia game. While Henchoz will be captain tomorrow, he might find himself on the bench in the qualifying game in April. The reason is Murat Yakin and Patrick Muller playing great in the game against Ireland.