International sports, football
Anfield, Liverpool (GenevaLunch) - Liverpool may not win any titles this season but they might well have played a role in denying one to Manchester United. They deservedly beat their archrivals 3-1, with a hat-trick by Dirk Kuyt, 6 March. Man United fielded a side weakened in defense because of the absence of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, but they were comprehensively outplayed in all departments.
Arsenal could only draw 0-0 against Sunderland but are just three points behind United in the Premier League and still have a game in hand. Man City stay third after a 1-0 win over Wigan.
Tottenham travelled to Wolverhampton for the best game of the weekend: a thrilling 3-3 draw.
In the Spanish La Liga Barcelona and Real Madrid both won. Inter Milan beat Genoa 5-2 and AC Milan beat Juventus in Series A. In the Swiss Super League Basel are still on top after a 3-1 win over Zurich. Neuchatel lost 1-2 to Bellinzona while Thun-Luzern ended 3-3.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football friendly in Geneva
Messi training in Geneva 8 February - Photo courtesy AFA
(video) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Lionel Messi was busy at work kicking his zapatillas, as Argentinians call their trainers, at the Stade de Genève where his team will meet the Portuguese squad in the first exciting football friendly of the year.
Messi and the rest of the team were busy “training offensive and defensive plays and keeping their goalkeeper Sergio Romero and his replacement Mariano Andúja busy” reported their official Argentinian website.
Training was anything but soft in Geneva with three Argentinian players reporting some light injuries.
Sergio Romero twisted an ankle and Gabriel Milito hurt his nose and had to be taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a cut. Nicolás Pareja was having problems with his ankle and was ordered to sit out today’s game.
Portuguese prepare for tough game
The Portuguese know their fans will back them up in Geneva and are preparing for a difficult game.
“We will not change our strategy for the game against Argentina” said Paulo Bento, the Portuguese coach. It makes “no sense” he added.
When asked if he thought Cristiano Ronaldo, who will lead the squad, will match up against Ballon d’Or winner Messi, he refused to compare them.
“I’ve said it before. This is not the way I approach football. What we want to do now is to leverage the qualities of Ronaldo in the collective context,” he said.
The Portuguese please their fans, the Argentinians shun them
Portugal’s Seleçao trained to a full stadium in Meyrin. Their public training 8 February attracted more than 3,000 fans. A video report on Swiss public television TSR shows the Portuguese squad enjoying their fans’ attention.
The Argentinians, however, shunned the attention, training away from cameras and fans at the Geneva stadium and keeping Messi away from everyone. “We are very disappointed” said one of them who waited outside for a glimpse of the star.
The team is giving fans another chance, however: they have just made it public that they are staying at La Réserve in Bellevue, and that they will leave 11 February at 18:35 from the Geneva airport. They will fly via Madrid to Buenos Aires.
This might be another chance for Geneva football fans to catch Messi, although he won’t be wearing zapatillas this time.
TSR
(video) The Green Bay Packers, from the northern US where daunting amounts of snow are the norm, took the minds of the rest of the US off snow-provoked worries to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in the Super Bowl, played in Arlington, Texas. It was the fourth Super Bowl title for the Packers, against the record six held by the Steelers but despite the Steelers’ legendary strength and what Sports Illustrated describes as a “furious” fight, the Packers never let the Pittsburgh team get a foothold.
But what really had social networks talking was the singer, Christina Aguilera, messing up her lines partway through, although the crowd appeared to love her singing in any event.
A Portuguese fan worried about his team - Photo Euro208 by Amir Rijaveck
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Portuguese Seleçao has confirmed that Ronaldo Cristiano will lead the squad in Geneva 9 February in the friendly match against Argentina, and football fans everywhere are preparing for the Swiss showdown between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Portugal and the South Americans have played only six times previously, with Argentina beating the Portuguese four times and tying once. Portugal has only been able to beat the Celeste once and that was back in 1972.
The game was moved to Geneva from London where it was originally scheduled to take place.
The last time Argentina played in Geneva was in 2005 when it was defeated by England 3-2 during a friendly.
Three employees have been fired and two suspended at the University of Iowa Hospitals in the US for breaching patient privacy in a case involved 13 Iowa Hawkeyes football players, the university announced 3 February. The 13 have contracted a rare disease, rhabdomyolysis, according to their coach, and the hospital has been searching for the cause of the disease. It is unclear, while the hospital investigation goes on, if the five leaked the information, to which they had electronic access, to the public or media.
AP reports that the disease “causes muscle fibers to be released into the bloodstream and can cause kidney damage. They checked into the hospital last week complaining of soreness and discolored urine after undergoing intense workouts following winter break. The players spent several days getting treatment and were all discharged by Sunday.”
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is currently ranked fourth in the Big Ten of US college football.
Links to other sites: CBS sports, ESPN, U of Iowa press release
Chateau de Bethusy, Lausanne, home of the international sports arbitration court
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Oleh Oriekhov, the Ukrainian football referee accused of game fixing, has lost his appeal. He was handed a life ban “on exercising any football-related activity” by Uefa, the European football federation based in Nyon, in July 2010. Oriekhov took his case to Cas (international sports arbitration court) in Lausanne, which announced Tuesday 18 January that it has upheld the ban, citing repeated contacts between Oriekhov and “and the members of a criminal group involved in match-fixing and betting fraud”.
The referee, under Uefa regulations, should have immediately alerted the football federation when he was first contacted, and it was his failure to do so that is behind the court’s decision.
A 15 December Cas hearing showed that “it has been convincingly established” that Oriekhov had contacts before and after the specific match in question between FC Basel and CSKA Sofia, Cas notes in a statement. “The existence or not of an effective manipulation concerning the Europa League match between FC Basel and CSKA Sofia could not be established during the Cas procedure.”
“On 5 November 2009, the referee Oleg Oriekhov officiated a match between FC Basel and CSKA Sofia in group E of the 2009-2010 UEFA Europa League.
International sports, football
In 2008 Portuguese fans in Geneva saw their team kicked out of the Euro Cup, the 2010 friendly could be their chance to make it up to their fans - Photo Euro208 by Amir Rijaveck
Update 20:00 / Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – February 9 is the date for a battle of the famous when footballer Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and his national team face the world’s most valuable player in football, Lionel Messi from Argentina, and his squad.
Ronaldo, the highest paid soccer player in the world, and the Portuguese squad facing off with Messi, widely considered the best player of his generation, are expected to draw thousands of fans to the Stade de Genève.
The Portuguese living in Geneva made up an estimated seven percent of the city’s population in 2008.
The friendly will kick off at 20:00 on 9 February.
The game was moved to Geneva from London where it was originally scheduled to take place, a change confirmed by the official site of the Argentina football team.
The last time Argentina played in Geneva was in 2005 when it was defeated by England 3-2 during a friendly.
Fifa named best for press facilities for 2010 World Cup by world sports journalists
Rafael Nadal wins US Open 2010 (photo, Ella Ling)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The AIPS (International Sports Press Association) has named Rafael Nadal the world’s top male athlete and Blanka Vlasic the top female, in its annual sports awards. Nadal, Spanish is the number one tennis player in the world and Vlasic, from Croatia, has won 18 of 20 high-jumping competitions in 2010, and she currently holds the world indoor and European titles.
The AIPS named Fifa, the world football federation, as the organization providing the best media facilities, at the 2010 football World Cup matches in South Africa. The IOC, International Olympic Committee, was second, for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The AIPS and the IOC are both based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
International sports, European Champions League football
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The draw for the first knockout round of the European Champions League took place in Nyon from 12:00 Friday 17 December. Highlights include a re-match of last season’s final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, while the crowd pleaser is likely to be Arsenal against Barcelona, another rematch from last season. AC Milan play Spurs while Chelsea travel to Copenhagen for their first match. Manchester United meet Marseille. The full fixture list is:
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
Milan v Tottenham
Valencia v Schalke
Internazionale v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Barcelona
Marseille v Manchester United
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
In the Europa League FC Basel meet Spartak Moscow while Young Boys meet St Petersburg.
International sports, World Cup football
Zurich, Switzerland (Genevalunch)- Russia is to host the 2018 World Cup despite the fact that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not attend the final days of lobbying and decision-making. The 22 executives of Fifa, the world football federation, announced the successful candidate countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup following a series of secret ballots. The English presentation was given by Prince William, with support from David Beckham, but the delegation was reportedly eliminated in the first round.
The 2022 winners were Qatar, to general surprise. The mini-state of under two million have promised air conditioned stadiums.
England, Spain/Portugal, Russia and Belgium/Netherlands were competing for 2018. The 2022 candidates were Australia, the USA, Japan and Qatar.
International sports, football, Barcelona v Real Madrid
Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain (GenevaLunch) – It was a thumping, clear and simple: Barcelona 5, Real Madrid 0, in the El Clásico match Monday 29 November. Leo Messi, widely considered the best footballer around even before the match, was untouchable and put on a fine show for the crowd. The closest thing to criticism of his game Monday night 29 November comes from The Guardian, which writes, “Messi failed to score for the first time in 10 matches but his performance—like those of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Sergio Busquets—was sublime.” Real Madrid coach José Mourinho, the self-proclaimed “The Special One”, conceded that Barcelona’s game was “fantastic”.
Links to other sites: El Pais (Spa), Figaro (Fre), The Guardian
Update 30 Novembr Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Lausanne-based IOC (International Olympic Committee) is reportedly asking the BBC to share with it proof that Issa Hayatou accepted bribes in the 1980s and 1990s. Hayatou is president of the Cameroon Football Association and a member of his country’s Olympic national committee. The bribe was mentioned on the BBC Panorama show that aired Monday evening 29 November.
The bribes scandal that Fifa (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) officials said in mid-November they hoped would not affect the selection process 1-2 December of World Cup host cities now threatens to overshadow voting, at least in world media. Swiss-German media over the weekend revealed details of what appears to be three more Fifa officials who also accepted bribes for their votes in the World Cup selection process.
Six officials were sanctioned 17 November for accepting bribes. Swiss sports officials have said they are reviewing the situation to see if laws were broken, given that Fifa is a Swiss-based non-profit organization.
Ricardo Teixeira, Brazil, Nicolas Leoz, Paraguay and Issa Hayatou, Cameroon were Monday 29 November named by Tagez-Anzeiger as the three officials mentioned by SonntagsZeitung on Sunday.
Bern and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Sports Office Director Matthias Remund is reported by The Guardian in the UK to be looking at the possibility of investigating Fifa, the international football body, in the case of the recent scandal over World Cup football votes. Fifa is a Swiss non-profit based in Zurich, and Remund told the newspaper he is looking into whether or not Swiss laws have been broken.
International sports, football
Birmingham, England (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea lost their fourth game of the season, and the third out of the last four Premier League matches with a 1-0 loss at Birmingham City. Chelsea are suffering from injuries as well as self-imposed disarray since sacking their assistant manager Ray Wilkins a few weeks ago. The team still head the League, but only on goal difference from Manchester United, who are unbeaten but have conceded seven draws so far this season. The Reds beat a nine-man Wigan 2-0 but it was an unconvincing display.
Spurs came back from two goals down at Arsenal to score their first away win in 17 years at their north London rival’s. West Ham lost 3-0 at Liverpool and stay at the bottom of the League: the result takes some of the pressure off Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson but West Ham boss Avram Grant looks like he might soon be out of a job.
In Spain both Real Madrid and Barcelona registered big wins as they get ready for “El Clásico,” the big match between the arch rivals. Real beat Bilbao 5-1 while Barca scored a record 8-0 away win at Almeria. Real still head La Liga ahead of the Catalans.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian, Telegraph
US former President Clinton to plead US case in Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Togo goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, who played for French side Pontivy, before he was injured in an armed attack in January 2010, is to received $100,000 from Fifa, the international football federation. The 25-year-old football player was gravely injured when his team’s bus was attacked in Angola before the start of the CAF African Cup of Nations 8 January. The ambush took the lives of assistant coach Amelete Abalo and press officer Stanislas O’cloo, while Obilale himself is still continuing his rehabilitation, Fifa says. The federation announced earlier this year that Obilale would receive $25,000 but it has increased the sum. AP background story with photos
In other Fifa news, former US President Bill Clinton will visit Zurich 1 December as part of the group that makes a final presentation to the federation’s executive committee for the 2022 World Cup bids. Clinton is an honorary chairman for the US bid group.
Fifa will announce, 2 December, the cities that have been awarded bids for the 2018 and 2022 games.
International sports, football
Anfield Road, Liverpool (GenevaLunch) - Liverpool moved into the top half of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over leaders Chelsea just a few weeks after they were in the relegation places. Roy Hodgson’s men, with Fernando Torres back in striking form, cut Chelsea’s lead in the championship to just two points. Manchester United were rather lucky to beat Wolves 2-1, with both goals coming from their Korean ball of energy Park Ji-sung, in the final minutes of each half. They lost Owen Hargreaves after just five minutes of his long awaited return from injury as he limped off with a hamstring injury. Wayne Rooney is off for a week’s rehabilitation at the Nike training centre in Portland, Oregon, partly to get him away from the attention of the British press. Arsenal slipped back to 15 points behind the leaders with a 0-1 defeat to Newcastle. Manchester City are fourth after a 0-2 win at West Bromwich Albion.
Glasgow Celtic scored a record 9-0 while thrashing Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League. The game featured two hat-tricks, three penalties and two red cards. Real Madrid and Barcelona both won to keep the top two spots in La Liga.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun
International sports, football
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Fifa, the international football federation, has provisionally suspended two members of its executive board and four other Fifa officials, it announced Wednesday 20 October.
Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of France, board members, have been banned from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) after their cases were heard today by the Fifa ethics committee in relation to the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups.
The two allegedly told undercover journalists working for the Sunday Times, UK, that they would be prepared to sell their votes in return for money they would invest in sports projects. The bids are to be decided 2 December 2010.
The journalists posed as US agents trying to secure bids. The Times has turned over all its video and other material to Fifa for the investigations.
Also suspended were Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Ismael Bhamjee “in relation to an alleged breach of the Fifa statutes, the Fifa code of ethics and the Fifa disciplinary code”, the group said in a statement.
It will also investigate possible collusion between bidders for the games: the rules specifically forbid two or more bidding groups to work together unless they are proposing a joint bid.
Fifa’s investigation is expected to be presented to an ethics committee meeting in mid-November, at which point decisions will be made on further action to be taken.
Board members cannot be fired, as they are elected by their federations, but if they are found to have broken the rules they can be suspended. Adamu, of the West African Confederation of Football and Temarii, of the Oceania Football Confederation, are both due for re-election within six months.
For 2018, in Europe, the countries in the running are: England, Russia and joint bids by Belgium-Holland and Spain-Portugal.
For 2022: the USA, Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, background 17 October, Fifa decision
International sports, European Champions League football
Rome, Italy (GenevaLunch) – They came, they saw , they conquered: FC Basel won what is quickly becoming a famous victory in Rome as they beat Roma 1-3. The Swiss team went ahead with a stunning goal from Alex Frei and then scored two more as they dominated the game. It was the first victory by a Swiss team over Roma.
In other matches Arsenal crushed Shaktar 5-1 and Chelsea scored a valuable away win as they beat Spartak Moscow 0-2. Manchester United play tonight without Wayne Rooney: the unhappy star is injured.
Fifa investigating undercover journalists vote scam scandal
International sports, football
Update 18 October 06:05 Blackpool, England (GenevaLunch) - Blackpool failed to manage another giant-killing as they lost 2-3 at home to a Manchester City under the driving leadership of Carlos Tevez. The referee also seemed to favour the visiting multi-millionaires. Liverpool discovered that it takes more than a new owner to bring back the winning ways: they now share the bottom of the Premier League after being beaten by local rivals Everton. Chelsea still top the League, but by only a two-point lead after a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa. Manchester United threw away a two goal lead against West Brom, including a goalkeeping blunder by Van der Sar, to end 2-2.
Wayne Rooney was on the substitutes bench for most of the match and there is speculation that his falling out with manager Alex Ferguson might mean a parting of the ways.
Match abandoned Tuesday night after six minutes, but violence continued
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Uefa, the European football body, says it is opening an investigation into the violence Tuesday night 12 October in Genoa, Italy, that prompted officials to call off the Euro 2012 qualifying match between Italy and Serbia after six minutes.
The start of the match was delayed by 35 minutes due to flares thrown by Serbian fans and “disturbances”, says Uefa. Seventeen people were arrested, with nearly 140 identified as taking part in the disturbances, according to Italian media reports, with some reports that the instigator was among those arrested.
The hearing into the case will be held 28 October after referee and delegates reports are filed with Uefa. Disciplinary action, says the organization, could “range from a reprimand or fine, up to a stadium closure or ‘disqualification from competitions in progress and/or exclusion from future competitions’, based on Uefa regulations.
Serbia lost its home match to Etonia, 3-1, Friday 8 October. Italy is currently in first place in the Group C rankings for qualifying rounds, with Serbia in fifth place out of the six.
Riots inside the stadium
International sports, football: Euro 2012
Ottmar Hitzfeld says he's happy with Switzerland's first victory - Photo ASF
St Jakob Stadium, Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss team showed unusual attacking form Tuesday night 12 October as they swept past Wales 4-1 to keep some hopes alive of qualifying for Euro 2012.
Two goals from Valentin Stocker and one each from Marco Streller and Inler flattered the home team. Tottenham striker Gareth Bale scored one for the visitors. Montenegro top the group after holding England to a 0-0 draw at Wembley Tuesday.
Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said to be hapy with a win that “wasn’t easy but well deserved,” he said. “We had the same opportunities with Montenegro, but there we didn’t have any luck.”
Italy-Serbia was abandoned after a few minutes following disturbances by the Serb fans. France beat Luxembourg 2-0 while Spain won 3-2 in Scotland.
Links to other sites: Welsh and Swiss players react to the game UEFA
Two new additions after Lausanne-Basel match set early-season example, say Vaud police
(video) Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The hooligans cell of the Vaud Police Department has issued a “perimeters” ban against two Lausanne Hockey Club (LHC) fans, following an ice rink ban issued by the Hockey Club Bienne (HCB) against the two after they caused post-match damage in April in Bienne.
The new ban brings to 49 the number of hooligans given perimeter bans by Vaud authorities since 1 July 2010, when the bans became cross-sport: the two cannot approach any football stadiums or hockey rinks in Vaud.
Cantonal bans can be enforced country-wide, effectively banning the two from all hockey and football arenas throughout Switzerland, for an indefinite period.
“We’re sending out a message at the start of the hockey season,” Vaud police spokesperson Jean-Christophe Sauteral told GenevaLunch. “There are no borders. We want to make it clear that we’re working with other cantons, that we’re all working together.”
Vaud has a relatively small population of hooligans, who cluster around Swiss National League A teams in Zurich, Zug, Basel, Fribourg and Geneva, for example. But the problem, says Sauteral, is Swiss-wide and police are working more closely together than in the past.
Sports clubs can ban hooligans from their own stadiums or rinks, with a national extension for their sport, but the bans don’t carry the weight of law. Seventeen Vaud hooligans have been banned from stadiums and ice rinks in Vaud since July. The sports clubs share the information with police, who can take a ban to the next level: breaking a perimeters ban is a criminal offense under Swiss law.
The two LHC fans were tracked and investigated by the Bienne police hooligans cell, which transmitted information to Lausanne. The two are men, age 20, Swiss and members of the “Ultras” fan club Section Ouest 93. They explained their actions by saying they were down about their team’s loss to Bienne 24 April, and they were provoked by Bienne fans.
They have each been issued a two-year ban.
Swiss Hockey is launching a “respect” campaign for the start of the season to encourage better behaviour on and off the ice:
International sports, football
Update 13:20 Podgorica, Montenegro (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland lost its Friday 8 October match with Montenegro 0:1, with a goal from Vucinic in the second half.
Switzerland played the mighty Montenegrins in the European Championship qualifiers. The Swiss football team needed to win in order to have a chance of qualifying in group G. After Switzerland lost to England at Basel, they were scheduled to face Montenegro which went into the match with 6 points after wins over Wales and Bulgaria.
The Swiss U-21 team beat Sweden roundly 4-1 in Sion 7 October. Goals were by Frei, Hochstrasser, Mehmedi and Kasami.
International sports, football
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – England walked away from Basel with the first European Cup qualifying match securely in its pocket after defeating a Swiss team that really only rallied late in the second half. England was in control for most of the game, although Switzerland’s game was strong enough to make England work, particularly after injuries began to take a toll.
The score remained 0-1 in England’s favour until well into the second half, when the Swiss scored their only point. England’s Darren Bent scored his first international goal and sealed Switzerland’s fate in the 88th minute of the game.
England and Montenegro each now have 6 points in the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup qualifying matches, after Montenegro defeated Bulgaria 7 September.
Switzerland faces Montenegro in early October and if it loses that match, it is out of the cup.
Links to other sites: Daily Mail, Guardian, Le Matin (Fre)
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – If the football stadium in Basel seems a little more quiet than you would expect for the match between Switzerland and England Tuesday night 7 September, blame Nicolas Sarkozy. According to the UK’s Daily Mail, thousands of England’s fans are being stranded or else staying home, first because of strikes in London that are creating chaos with the Underground tube lines, and then thanks to a 24-hour general strike in France that is affecting transport.
The timing of the French strike has nothing to do with football, unless it’s the political variety: today is the day when President Nicolas Sarkozy presents his controversial pension reform plan to parliament.
The game will be carried live by Swiss television TSR2 (Fre) at 20.10 Tuesday evening.
Swiss play friendly against Australia, CFF announces additional trains for the Switzerland-England match
La Nati - The Swiss national football team
St Gallen, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld says his team is ready to play the Australia Socceroos in a friendly tonight at 20:15, at the AFG Arena in St Gallen.
This is the first time that the Qantas Socceroos face Switzerland at senior international level, thus, the new Aussie coach Holger Osieck is ready to show his squad is ready to win.
Hitzfeld announced he will only keep Lichtsteiner, Grichting, Inler, Derdiyok and Frei for the friendly while trying seven new players. The game, says Hitzfeld, is only a rehearsal for Switzerland’s first qualifying match for the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup which the Nati will play next week against England.
The Swiss railroad system, CFF, announced that on 7 September, 13 additional trains will carry football fans directly to St Jakob Park in Basel before the game.
After the match ends, buses will transport fans back to the station where additional trains to Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Neuchatel, St Gallen and Zurich will be dispatched.
All football ticket holders can ride free of charge in Basel’s municipal transport system four hours before and after the game.
The qualifying stage for the 2012 Cup begins today 3 September throughout Europe.
Swiss / international sports, football
La Nati - The Swiss national football team
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland is ready to face England in its first qualifying game for the Euro 2012. Ottmar Hitzfeld has announced the players who will carry La Nati through a friendly against Australia 3 September, and against England 7 September.
Among Hitzfeld’s new picks is Scott Sutter, an English-Swiss defender.
The 24-year-old says he is proud to be nominated: “I have lived in Switzerland for eight-and-a-half years, it is my homeland now. This nomination is even more special since I will play the country where I spent the first years of my life,” said Sutter referring to the game against England. (Tickets are on sale now.)
Swiss captain Alexander Frei, largely absent during the World Cup, is back after recovering from injury. Veteran player Philippe Senderos, however, is out after rupturing an Achilles tendon.
The qualifying stage for the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup begins 3 September throughout Europe.
For the Swiss and English teams, which compete in group G, it begins 7 September when they face each other off in Basel at St-Jacques Park at 20:45.
Bulgaria, Montenegro and Wells round up the five teams in the group.
List of players Read more…
La Nati - The Swiss national football team
Austria (GenevaLunch.com) – Switzerland’s last warm-up for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, ended well after the Swiss beat Austria 1-0 in a friendly match.
Moreno Costanzo,22, scored the sole goal in a game where Switzerland clearly dominated, but was constantly unable to convert.
Several Swiss debutantes were lined up by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.
Hitzfeld said he was “happy to have won,” and added, “in the last few years we hadn’t seen much success.”
“We played well, we were well organized,” Hitzfeld said after the match.
It was the final friendly for both teams before the start of their 2012 European championship qualifying campaigns.
Switzerland will now take on England in Group G in Basel on 7 September.
——-
Switzerland Lineup: Diego Benaglio, Francois Affolter, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Stephane Grichting (replaced by Mario Eggimann), Reto Ziegler, Xherdan Shaqiri (replaced by Marco Padalino), Pirmin Schwegler (replaced by Gelson Fernandes), Gokhan Inler, Valentin Stocker (replaced by Albert Bunjaku), Hakan Yakin (replaced by Moreno Costanzo), Eren Derdiyok (replaced by Nassim Ben Khalifa).
International football star David Beckham,35, has been cast-off by Italian coach Fabio Capello as “too old to play” for the English squad.
Capello who said so to the international press seemed to have forgotten to let Beckham in on his plans.
“I’m sure someone will have phoned him now. We tried to speak to him but we couldn’t. I will speak to him soon.”
Capello said Beckham could play once more for England at Wembley so fans could pay tribute to the ex-skipper.
Additional details: The Telegraph, Fifa
Final score: Spain 1, The Netherlands 0
International sports, World Cup football
Johannesburg, South Africa (GenevaLunch) - The game is over, except in the hearts of fans, who will continue to turn over every move and every decision by the referee, for days to come.
The big one has been decided: Spain beat The Netherlands 1-0 with a goal in the final minute to take the 2010 World Cup football title. It was a game between two evenly matched teams, but where yellow cards and bad tempers ruled the day. The match remained scoreless until 117 minutes into the game.
Nelson Mandela was another real winner: the former South African president rode around the stadium in a small vehicle for the closing ceremony, winning the hearts of the crowd.
In Geneva, Festifoot, organizers of the city’s official World Cup festival, announced Sunday that 250,000 football fans took advantage of the outdoor screen – at the Esplanade des Vernets – during the past four weeks.
Read GenevaLunch’s recap of the 2010 World Cup.
Links to other sites: BBC, El Pais (Spa), Guardian, Le Matin (Fre), TSR (Fre), Xinhua
