Ottmar Hitzfeld has named his 23-man Switzerland squad for the World Cup and included five Serie A-based players.
Ottmar Hitzfeld has named his 23-man Switzerland squad for the World Cup and included five Serie A-based players.
Napoli’s trio of Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili and Gokhan Inler have all made today’s squad submitted to FIFA, alongside Juventus” data-scaytid=”10″>Juventus full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner and Juve-owned Reto Ziegler, who has spent this season on loan at Sassuolo” data-scaytid=”14″>Sassuolo.
Udinese‘s” data-scaytid=”15″>Udinese's Silvan Widmer is one of seven players listed on stand-by, should one of the initial 23 pick up an injury.
“The idea is to have two options for every position, to go to Brazil with every role covered,” Hitzfeld has explained to reporters today.
“That is why I have called up Ziegler.
“At the World Cup it will be important to acclimatise quickly. We will need to play with tactical intelligence, organisation.
“The emotion will have an important role, especially against the South American countries.”
Switzerland are drawn in Group E of this summer’s tournament and face Ecuador, France and Honduras.
Switzerland World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Roman Bürki (Grasshopper), Yann Sommer (Basel)
Defenders: Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Michael Lang (Grasshopper), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Fabian Schär (Basel), Philippe Senderos (Valencia), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Reto Ziegler (Sassuolo)
Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Eintracht Frankfurt), Valon Behrami (Napoli), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Gelson Fernandes (Freiburg), Gökhan Inler (Napoli), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Valentin Stocker (Basel), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach).
Forwards: Mario Gavranovic (Zurich), Josip Drmic (Nurnberg), Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad), Admir Mehmedi (Freiburg)
Reserves: Marwin Hitz (Augsburg), Timm Klose (VfL Wolfsburg), Silvan Widmer (Udinese), Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen), Fabian Frei (FC Basel), Pajtim Kasami (Fulham), Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt)