Kuhn announces final Euro squad

Mario Eggimann (left) and Thomas Häberli have been dropped from the Swiss squad Keystone

Swiss national team coach Köbi Kuhn has named his final 23-man squad for the European football championships, which kick off in ten days.

Defender Patrick Müller and midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta have been included, despite lingering injury concerns.

Two weeks ago Kuhn named a 26-man squad and therefore had to drop three people on Wednesday.

An injury to striker Blaise Nkufo made Kuhn’s decision slightly easier: not only was Nkufo dropped, but also his replacement, 34-year-old striker Thomas Häberli. The third man to go was defender Mario Eggimann.

Kuhn now has only three strikers at his disposal.

Switzerland have been hard hit by injuries in their preparations for co-hosting the tournament with Austria. In the past month the team lost not only Nkufo, but also defender Steve von Bergen and goalkeeper Fabio Coltorti.

Müller, who has hardly been on the pitch this season for his French club Lyon because of injury, played 76 minutes on May 24 in Switzerland’s 2-0 friendly win over Slovakia, which was enough to book a place for the 31-year-old.

Barnetta, Switzerland’s playmaker in midfield, was ruled out of the Slovakia match after suffering a strained ligament in his left ankle during training last week.

On Tuesday team doctors said he was likely to be ready to play on June 7, when the Swiss kick off the tournament against the Czech Republic in Basel.

Switzerland’s final friendly before Basel is against Liechtenstein on May 30.

swissinfo with agencies

Final squad

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Eldin Jakupovic
(Grasshopper), Pascal Zuberbühler (Neuchatel Xamax).

Defenders: Valon Behrami (Lazio), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund), Johan Djourou (Arsenal), 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), Marco Streller (Basel).

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