Eggimann and Haeberli go home

May 29th, 2008 | by: Jan | Comments Off

They’re not really going home considering that since the Swiss Training Camp is in Switzerland and they’re Swiss citizens living in Switzerland going home doesn’t really mean anything.

Anyways, Kuhn has made his choice. This is the final squad for Euro 2008:

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (VFl Wolfsburg), Pascal Zuberbuehler (Neuchatel Xamax FC), Eldin Jakupovic (Grasshoppers-Club Zurich)

Defenders: Philipp Degen (BV Borussia Dortmund), Johan Djourou (Arsenal FC), Stéphane Grichting (AJ Auxerre), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille OSC), Ludovic Magnin (VfB Stuttgart), Patrick Muller (Olympique Lyonnais), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal FC), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Midfielders and Strikers: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Valon Behrami (S. S. Lazio), Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshopper Club Zurich), Eren Derdiyok (FC Basel), Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City F.C.), Alexander Frei (BV Borussia Dortmund), Daniel Gygax (FC Metz), Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel), Gokhan Inler (Udinese Calcio), Marco Streller (FC Basel), Johan Vonlanthen (Red Bull Salzburg), Hakan Yakin (BSC Young Boys).

3 players in the Premier League, 6 in the Bundesliga, 4 in the French Ligue 1, 2 in the Serie A, 1 in the Austrian League, 7 in the Swiss Super League.

11 players are under 25 years of age and only 5 are above 30, making Switzerland the youngest team in the European Championship. I believe the international experience of most players and the experience of those above 25 will certainly be a remedy for the inexperience of the youngest players, the youngest being Eren Derdiyok who will turn 20 on the 12th of June.

Mario Eggimann (Hannover) and Thomas Haeberli (BSC Young Boys) will have to hope their team can do well without them.
Honestly, I don’t really understand Kuhn’s choice. I much prefer Eggimann to Grichting and I would have rather seen Haeberli play instead of Huggel. I believe Kuhn considered Hakan Yakin as a striker and chose to drop Haeberli (despite the latter having had an amazing year in the Super League).

9 days to Euro 2008 – the biggest sports event ever to take place in our mountainous land.