Kuhn's eight in a state

By Marco Keller

Switzerland coach Jakob Kuhn is discovering that life has a tendency to kick you when you are down in the football world.

Selection problem
After qualifying for UEFA EURO 2004™ ahead of Russia and the Republic of Ireland, Kuhn's team has slowly started to fall apart at the seams. Incredibly, of the 14 players who were on the field during the decisive qualifying match against the Irish back in October, eight have since suffered some kind of problem - be it mental, physical or simply with their form.

Three stars
To make matters worse for Kuhn, three of these problem players - goalkeeper and captain Jörg Stiel, central defender Murat Yakin and his goalscoring brother Hakan - are central to Switzerland's hopes in Portugal.

Lost place
Stiel, who had been the undisputed No1 at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach over the last couple of seasons, recently lost his status at the German club. In a game against Eintracht Frankfurt, he was accused of "contributing" to all three opposition goals. Coach Holger Fach subsequently dropped Stiel for the veteran Claus Reitmaier and his replacement has not looked back.

Yakin blow
Murat Yakin, arguably Switzerland's most reliable player in qualifying, recently underwent thigh surgery and is rated only probable to make it to Portugal. Finally, Hakan Yakin, the most talented player at Kuhn's disposal, has struggled with his fitness since joining VfB Stuttgart and consequently fallen well out of favour with coach Felix Magath. Despite all the problems, however, Kuhn is refusing to be fazed. "I know that all of them will be working very hard to be ready for EURO," he told euro2004.com.

Fitness race
Slightly less of a concern is the situation regarding five other players. PSV Eindhoven's Johann Vogel, the defensive heart of the team, is injured and looks unlikely to figure in Switzerland's match on Wednesday against Greece in Crete. Grasshopper-Club's Christoph Spycher is also currently sidelined but is hoping to return within a couple of weeks.

Impressive Streller
Marco Streller, the second star to leave FC Basel 1893 in the winter in search of glory at Stuttgart, is not among the regular starters yet either. His situation, however, looks rather more promising than that of Hakan Yakin. He has impressed in his appearances so far and notched his first goal last month.

Night Meyer
Finally, Fabio Celestini is playing regularly at Olympique de Marseille but struggling to get in the starting lineup, while Remo Meyer is slowly but steadily coming back with TSV 1860 München after a knee injury.

Hard times
Despite being regarded as a coach who remains loyal to his players when they fall on hard times, Kuhn has thought about possible changes to his ideal eleven with his side's opening game against Croatia ten weeks away. "It is too early to talk about my back-up plan now," he said.

Good news
The only real boost for Kuhn is the form of striker Alexander Frei, who recently plundered a career-best four goals in Stade Rennais FC's 4-3 win against Marseille. To make life even better for the in-form Frei, his goals came against France No1 Fabien Barthez, a player the Swiss expect to come up against when the neighbours meet on 21 June. Perhaps the summer will bring some sunshine after the rain after all.