French flair to the fore in Geneva

Adam Szreter reports from Geneva

Switzerland 0-2 France
As international derbies go, they do not come much more local than this, with Geneva's sparkling new stadium just a stone's throw from the French border. But while the rival supporters may have enjoyed a rare opportunity to come painted face to painted face, it was hard to tell which coach would have learned more from the experience.

Cabanas chance
Certainly Köbi Kuhn's need was greater than that of Jacques Santini. France are sitting pretty at the top of qualifying Group 1 on their way to UEFA EURO 2004™. Switzerland, however, have some testing games before they can start planning for Portugal. For this match their playmaker Hakan Yakin was missing through injury, as he may be for the qualifier in Russia next month, so Kuhn experimented in central midfield with Ricardo Cabanas.

Wiltord opener
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ex-Grasshopper-Club man was overshadowed by Zinedine Zidane, approaching top form for the start of the Spanish league season in ten days' time. The former world player of the year was busy from the outset, and it was his astute pass that allowed Sylvain Wiltord to steal in and poke the ball past Jörg Stiel to give France a 13th-minute lead.

Lack of service
Some of the movement and passing from Santini's side was beautiful to watch, with veterans Zidane and Bixente Lizarazu clearly enjoying their liaison on the French left. Switzerland, frankly, were struggling to compete. Cabanas looked overawed, and while Johann Vogel did his best to keep them ticking over, there was no service for the strikers.

Barthez recovery
Nevertheless, although David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry both shot narrowly wide, it was Switzerland who came the closest as half-time approached. A long-range effort from Cabanas was fumbled by Fabien Barthez, before the French goalkeeper made amends with a fine diving save to keep out Murat Yakin's free-kick. The second half was more of the same, France scoring early again, this time through substitute Steve Marlet in the 55th minute from Wiltord's cross, and they then proceeded to dominate until late in the game.

Several changes
By the end only Lizarazu, Barthez and Mickaël Silvestre remained of those who had started for France, but Olivier Dacourt, given a rare chance in midfield, had left a good impression while FC Sochaux-Montbéliard's Benoît Pedretti should have opened his international scoring account instead of letting Stiel flick his effort on to the bar.

Fine effort
For Switzerland there was at least the consolation of Benjamin Huggel's international debut following a lengthy injury; his volley near the end brought the best out of Barthez and had a touch of class about it. Other than that, Kuhn will be hoping Hakan Yakin is fit for the trip to Moscow, otherwise a summer on the Algarve may just prove out of their reach.