Euro 2008 gets under way today with co-hosts Switzerland pitting their promising young team against an experienced Czech Republic side keen to prove their best days are not behind them.
Koebi Kuhn’s Swiss squad are one of the youngest at the finals but include several players who have already experienced two major tournaments.
“Our players have developed and ripened since the 2006 World Cup,” captain Alex Frei told reporters at the team’s base camp.
PHOTO: AP
“I believe in the quality of the team and I know it is hungry for success. We want to write history and now have the chance to do so in our own country,” he said.
After a camp full of injury and off-field problems, Switzerland have been buoyed by the timely recovery of midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta and long-injured defender Patrick Mueller. Both were declared fit on Thursday, reviving spirits after a week in which striker Marco Streller angrily announced he would retire after the tournament, and Kuhn’s wife was hospitalized after suffering an epileptic attack.
Barnetta’s return could be crucial. The 23-year-old Bayer Leverkusen player has emerged as the creative spark for Switzerland in the past year, scoring both goals in a 2-1 friendly win over the Netherlands in Geneva last August.
He injured ligaments in his left ankle on May 20 and missed Switzerland’s last two warm-up matches, but rejoined his team-mates in training on Wednesday and said a day later he was “ready” to play.
The Czech Republic haven’t been as lucky, and are without midfield dynamo Tomas Rosicky for the duration of the tournament. The captain was ruled out following surgery on his left knee tendon last month.
“For them it’s a big blow,” said Switzerland defender Philippe Senderos, who plays alongside Rosicky at Arsenal. “He was their creative player in the midfield. They have other players with other qualities, but Tomas is one of the best in the world at doing what he does.”
The former Czechoslovakia won the European Championship in 1976 and recent successes for the Czechs include an appearance in the 1996 final and a run to the 2004 semi-finals.
But the international retirements of Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved along with the loss through injury of Rosicky have raised doubts over the pedigree of the Czech squad.
“I don’t know why people would say we are not as good as we were before,” midfielder David Jarolim told reporters at the team’s training ground in Seefeld, Austria. “We have qualified for the last three tournaments in a row. That shows how strong we are and we will prove it again at Euro 2008.”
Neutral fans will hope to see plenty of goals with the Group A game bringing together two of the tournament’s most prolific strikers.
Frei has scored 35 times in 59 matches for Switzerland, a national record, while towering Czech forward Jan Koller boasts a record of 54 goals in 87 internationals.
Switzerland will struggle to contain the 2.02m tall Koller, particularly with regular central defender Patrick Mueller yet to prove his match fitness after missing the majority of the season through injury.
“We won’t be man-marking Koller,” said Swiss assistant coach Michel Pont. “Our team has coped with Zinedine Zidane and plenty of other great players in the past without assigning defenders to particular players.”
“We won’t start doing so now against the Czechs, not least because they have plenty of other attacking options,” he said.
Czech coach Karel Bruckner did not give any hints as to which of those options he would exercise but has faced repeated calls from the media to drop Milan Baros and play Koller alone up front.
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