Latest News from the Swiss Camp at Feusisberg

(interview with Patrick Muller, in French – you will need real player)

Patrick Muller doesn’t feel ready to begin his European adventure, probably his last as a player:
“I believe I have 50% chance to play on Saturday. I’ll tell my coach (Kuhn) that I’m not 100% fit yet. He’ll have to make a decision”.
The long injury and the long absence from the Swiss Team has made him look shaky in defence during these last friendly games, despite Switzerland not conceding one single goal. Despite this, Patrick believes “that the importance of the opening game might lead him to free himself from fears because every player will have to give everything. There will be no time for thinking”.

Kuhn has not much of an alternative, he could align a Djourou-Senderos central defence but a Muller-Senderos would certainly be more solid since the latter could benefit from all of the experience of the former.

Stephan Lichsteiner believes that Muller’s presence is fundamental: “We’ve played two games with Patrick in defence and we haven’t conceded one single goal. His experience means a lot to us. I don’t believe he’s unfit. For us, it’s definitely better if he plays.

Tranquillo Barnetta joined the team yesterday afternoon and should be available for the opening game. He was part of the entire training session and had no problem whatsoever.

Kuhn and Michel Pont have started studying the latest games that the Czech Republic has played: “The Czechs have some very strong forwards. But we have discovered some weaknesses in their game. We’ll have to play in a solid way and be very aggressive in midfield”.

In the meantime, the Czech team interviewed at their training camp in Seefeld, states that the pressure of the opening game in on Switzerland and they believe they are the favourites to win the game. Ludovic Magnin, interviewed by tsr.ch, believes that the Swiss players are used to such pressure all along the year and that they can cope with it by not thinking about their opponents.

As if it weren’t enough, Bruckner, the Czech coach, believes he knows the Swiss starting 11 (with one big surprise!):
Benaglio – Lichtsteiner, Muller, Senderos, Magnin – Behrami, Inler, Fernandes, Barnetta – Frei, Derdiyok. The Czech Rep. are certainly aware of Derdiyok’s power and enthusiasm (see profile page) but have their own worries with Ujfalusi maybe missing out on the opening game.