Streller setback for Swiss

Switzerland coach Jakob Kuhn has been robbed of the services of VfB Stuttgart striker Marco Streller on the eve of his team's friendly against Slovenia.

Thigh injury
The 22-year-old forward, who had been in line to win his fourth senior Swiss cap, tore a muscle in his right thigh during training and will be out of action for up to two weeks. "In the current situation this is, of course, very unlucky," the striker said. "But the doctors told me that they expect I will be back in ten to 15 days."

Same strikers
Streller's enforced absence clears the way for Daniel Gygax of FC Zürich or FC Thun's Milaim Rama, who have four caps between them, to make an appearance from the substitutes' bench. But Kuhn is likely to keep faith in the strike partnership of Alexander Frei and Stéphane Chapuisat for Wednesday's match in Geneva, where he is keen for his side to triumph. "It's always important to win. For me, the way we play is actually the most important but I know what the spectators expect."

Yakin chance
Although ticket sales for the game have been slow, all eyes in the Stade de Genève will be on playmaker Hakan Yakin, Streller's Stuttgart team-mate, who has played just one full game of football this season, but should be given a 90-minute run-out against the Slovenians. "Physically, I don't have any problem," said the younger brother of injured centre-half Murat Yakin. "What I need now is a series of games but I'm training as hard as ever and I will be ready in Portugal."

Settled side
Apart from the two injured absentees, Kuhn should field a full-strength side similar to that which will begin their UEFA EURO 2004™ Group B campaign against Croatia in just over six weeks' time. As the Swiss look to reverse a trend which has seen them lose back-to-back friendlies against Morocco and Greece, Jörg Stiel looks set to play in goal behind a defence comprising Bernt Haas, Stéphane Henchoz, Patrick Müller and Christoph Spycher, who is expected to start ahead of Bruno Berner at left-back.

Goal drought
Kuhn, whose team have not scored a goal from midfield since Ricardo Cabanas found the net in a 3-2 victory against Albania in June 2003, will be looking for inspiration from a midfield three likely to be Benjamin Huggel, Johann Vogel and Raphael Wicky, with Hakan Yakin starting behind the front two.

Fond memories
Slovenia go into the game with fond memories of their last competitive meeting with the Swiss, a 1-0 win in Basel which ended Switzerland's chances of qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. The teams have met more recently, a February 2003 friendly bringing a 5-1 win for Kuhn's men, but Slovenia will be keen to improve on last month's 1-0 defeat by Latvia.

Sensational Šiljak
Visiting coach Bojan Prašnikar added FC Koper striker Sasa Jakomin to his squad ahead of the game but is unlikely to leave out Ermin Šiljak, whose nine goals in the qualifying tournament set the standard for the rest of Europe. Goalkeeper Marko Simeunovic, midfield player Fabijan Cipot and forward Sebastjan Cimirotic are all missing but playmakers Milenko Acimovic and Zlatko Zahovic are both available.