Grasshoppers’ poor performance in the Intertoto, Udinese sign Alain Nef, Yakin might go to Qatar

GRASSHOPPERS AND THE INTERTOTO TOURNAMENT

The second round of the Intertoto Cup was a disappointing one for Swiss Super League side FC Grasshoppers Zurich. Hanspeter Latour’s side only narrowly defeated Albanian minnows KS Besa, courtsesy of a double by Lulic at the 66th and 79th minute. Celebrations were ruined by a frustrating (and ironically named) Herby Fortunat goal at the 83rd. A stubborn defence to crack down, the return leg during the weekend won’t be a piece of cake for the Swiss side.
The tournament might prove tricky for the Zurich team considering that potential challengers are Norwegian giants Rosenborg, the Greeks of Panionios, the Scotsmen of Hibernian, former Austrian champions Sturm Graz and Turkish side Sivasspor.

UDINESE SIGN ALAIN NEF

The big news of the day is that former Piacenza midfielder Alain Nef (who was part of Kuhn’s pre-Euro 2008 list) will be an Udinese player next season. He will join the Italian side that is already the team of a fellow Swiss player, Gokhan Inler. Despite Piacenza’s anonymous season, Nef played over 33 games and has been one of Serie B’s MVP.

HAKAN YAKIN IN QATAR?

Hakan Yakin was not going to stay in Switzerland. That was for sure. Now however, Qatar club, Al Gharafa. According to Blick the Qatar side will have to spend approx. 4 Million Swiss Francs (2.50 million euros) for the experienced Swiss International. However Young Boys has refused to confirm this news.

SION AND MONTERRUBIO?

Experienced left-winger Olivier Monterrubio (currently at RC Lens) might FC Sion’s big deal of the summer. In the last season the player has scored 9 goals and provided 10 assists. He is especially good at set-pieces and penalty kicks. This would be a quality signing for the Swiss side who might be able to reinforce its midfield ahead of a challenging season.

GYGAX JOINS NURNBERG
Swiss International Daniel Gygax will play in Nurnberg next year. The German-side, recently relegated in 2. Bundesliga, bought the player from FC Metz. Gygax only played 10 minutes against Turkey at Euro 2008.

Other News
FC Vaduz have signed u-19 Switzerland International Damian Bellon who was on loan at Aston Villa.
Montenegrin forward Samel Sabanovic has moved from FC Wil to Super-League side Grasshoppers. He has scored 39 goals in 78 games for his former team.
Swiss-Turkish midfielder Gurkan Sermeter has moved from FC Aarau to newly promoted Bellinzona.
Relegated St. Gallen have sold one of their best players, Albanian-German Jurgen Gjasula to Swiss Champions FC Basel. Certainly one of the few positive players in St. Gallen’s disastrous season moves to a team that will be strengthened by his quality.
Zurich striker Eudis will play for Young Boys in the coming season.
Argentinian midfielder Marcos Gelabert follows Gjasula to Basel from relegated St. Gallen. He has signed a 3-year contract.
Bosnian Senad Lulic has moved from Bellinzona to Grasshoppers and has scored two goals in his Intertoto debut (see above).
Swedish-Iranian midfielder Behrang Safari was transferred Malmo FF to FC Basel . He is considered one of the greatest Swedish talents and has played 3 times for the Swedish national team.