Russai 6 June in Fribourg Albania 10 June in La Chaux-de-Fonds Raphaël Darbellay (Yverdon) will not play du to injury.. Keepers: Diego Benaglio (20, VfB Stuttgart) Alain Portmann (22, Delémont) Marco Wölfli (21, Thoune) Defenders: Luca Denicola (22, Aarau) Mario Eggimann (22, Karlsruhe) Kim Jaggy (21, Grasshopper) Stephan Lichtsteiner (19, Grasshopper) Alain Nef (21, Zurich) Alain Rochat (20, Young Boys) Roland Schwegler (21, Grasshopper) Philippe Senderos (18, Servette) Minfield: Thierno Bah (21, Servette) Patrick Baumann (21, Thoune) Pascal Cerrone (22, Thoune) Daniel Gygax (22, Zurich) Nicolas Marazzi (22, Sion) Maxime Sanou (21, NE Xamax) Rijat Shala (20, Grasshopper) Strikers: André Muff (22, Lucerne) Streller Marco (22, Thoune) Vonlanthen Johan (17, Young Boys) Reserves: Tranquillo Barnetta (18, St-Gall) Yassin Mikari (20, Grasshopper) Philippe Montandon (21, Wil) Steve Von Bergen (20, NE Xamax)
It is a strong team. Most if not all are regular starters on their club teams and many make an impact. Are you going to either of these games? Why not try the marathon stretch of Swiss games? You could see both the U-21's and National Team essentially qualify for the UEFA championships! What could be better!!
There have been two scratches, and probatly another: Alain Nef (Zurich, abdominal problems) Rijat Shala (GC, knee problems, 6 to 8 weeks) and most likley Nicolas Marazzi (Sion, ankle). They wil be replaced by: Tranquillo Barnetta (St-Gall) and Yassin Mikari (Grasshopper). Another will be named soon. In related news, Bernard Challandes is coaching the U-20 team in Fribourg, Germany this wednesday. As he put it, he was the "onlly coach available." The U-20 team is trying to forget the 8-0 thrashing they got from Italy. The team will be winthout Anthony Favre (exams), Loïc Favre, Yves Miéville (injured), Adnan Jasari and Ronny Hodel (retained by their club). Germany is preparing for the U-20 World Cup in November.
Nah, that's pushing it. I arrive in Switzerland on the 6th, and my family would be really pissed if I storm off to a soccer game on the first day I get there...
Switzerland and Germany tied 1-1. Stefan Blunschi scored for the Swiss. The match report stated that the second half was dominated by the Swiss, and they created many scoring chances, finally putting one in near the end.
Scratch one more: Maxime Sanou the right midfielder for Neuchâtel Xamax has been sick for a few days and will not ply in the games.
Stephan Lichtsteiner will miss the games also. With six normal players out, I would love 6 points, but 4 would seem more attainable.
Switzerland beat Russia 1-0 in Fribourg in front of a crowd of 8,900. Marco Streller (Thun) scored the winning goal...
Great result for the team. I imagine that the attendence was a record for Fribourg, their club team has been really bad for the past few years. Lets hope the Swiss U-21's can carry the momentum into the game at La Chaux!
Switzerland wins 2-1. Switzerland 6 16 Russia 5 12 Republic of Ireland 6 5 Albania 6 4 Georgia 5 2 Russia has one game in hand. With two more matches to play. Russia - Switzerland 09/09 Switzerland - Rep of Ireland 10/10 These two games will be huge. Russia has a game before the Russia-Switzerland game. If they beat Ireland in Ireland, they will be one point behind Switzerland. It could be a huge match.
There were 3,500 at La Chaux for the match. Johan Vonlanthen (YB) scored on a penalty in the 94th minute to seal the victory for the Swiss.
After a first half that players said was their worst they have played, the Swiss came back from a 0-1 deficit to win. The second half was dominated by the Swiss, Albania only had one shot on goal. The U-21 team has essentially qualified for the Euro championship.
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/Under21/news/Kind=1/newsId=74772.html Ireland has to forefit the game against Albania that was recently played. It does not change much for the Swiss, but not good for the Irish.