Euro hopefuls whittled down to 26

Reporters were hanging on Köbi Kuhn's every word on Tuesday in Bern Keystone

Swiss national team coach Köbi Kuhn has made his provisional squad selection for the European football championships next month with a few surprises.

Experienced central defender Patrick Müller, who has been out of action for most of the season, has been given a chance to prove his fitness, while Ricardo Cabanas is an unexpected inclusion as one of the 26 players pre-selected for the tournament.

Presenting his selection on Tuesday in Bern, Kuhn said that the list was close to being finalised, with only three names left to be cut from the roster to reach the 23-man limit set by Uefa, European football’s governing body.

“I don’t know if it is the best possible selection,” he added.

“The results during the competition will tell us if we were right. What’s sure is that even if all the players aren’t in identical shape, I trust this group.”

Fitness tests

The ideal situation for the coach would have been to give his final selection, but he preferred to see how Müller and Dortmund right back Philipp Degen fared after struggling with injuries.

Müller, 31, tore a knee ligament in December but recently resumed training with French first division leaders Olympique Lyon and played 65 minutes with the club’s reserves at the weekend.

The player, who was part of the Swiss team at the last European championships and the World Cup in 2006 will receive special coaching to get him back to full fitness.

Kuhn admits though that it will be a tight race to get Müller back into the game. The defender will miss Switzerland’s friendly against Slovakia on May 24 as his club will be playing the final of the French Cup on that day.

Degen has also made the first cut, despite still suffering from a torn leg joint after a series of other injuries since the beginning of the season with his German club.

He will face a series of fitness tests this week to see if he can play with the team next month.

His twin brother David was less fortunate and has been provisionally ruled out as he is recovering from a groin injury.

Hard choice

The day’s other surprise was the selection of Ricardo Cabanas, who hasn’t played for the national side since August last year. After injuring his knee in September and an operation, the midfielder has made steady progress with his Grasshoppers Zurich team.

“He worked well after his injury,” said Kuhn. “It wasn’t easy for him to come back and he showed that I could still count on him. He promised that he would make any decision difficult for me by doing his best.”

For the coach, Cabanas’ experience is one reason why he has been pre-selected, although he shouldn’t expect any favours from Kuhn. The player has already taken part in Switzerland’s past two major campaigns in 2004 and 2006.

“His experience can benefit the team, although he shouldn’t take anything for granted,” added Kuhn.

Defensive midfielder Blerim Dzemaili missed out as expected after failing to secure a first team place at English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers despite recovering from a cruciate ligament injury.

But along with Reto Ziegler, who plays for Italian side Sampdoria, and David Degen, he is still in with an outside chance of making the team. They will train with the under-21 squad and be called up if necessary.

Lucerne’s Mauro Lustrinelli, Young Boys Bern’s Thomas Häberli and Fabio Celestini of Spanish club Getafe are definitely out of the running.

Kuhn said he planned to name his definitive 23-man team for the tournament, which Switzerland is co-hosting with Austria, on the May 28 deadline.

swissinfo

Provisional squad

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Fabio Coltorti (Racing Santander), Pascal Zuberbühler (Neuchatel Xamax).

Defenders: Valon Behrami (Lazio), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund), Johan Djourou (Arsenal), Mario Eggimann (Karlsruher SC) Stéphane Grichting (Auxerre), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille), Ludovic Magnin (Stuttgart), Patrick Müller (Lyon), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt), Steve von Bergen (Hertha Berlin).

Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshopper), Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City), Daniel Gygax (FC Metz), Benjamin Huggel (Basel), Gökhan Inler (Udinese), Hakan Yakin (Young Boys), Johan Vonlanthen (Red Bull Salzburg).

Strikers: Eren Derdiyok (Basel), Alexander Frei (Borussia Dortmund), Blaise Nkufo (FC Twente), Marco Streller (Basel).