Switzerland lose Borer
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Article summary
Switzerland goalkeeper Fabrice Borer has been ruled out of UEFA EURO 2004 ™ after breaking his arm.
Article body
Training accident
The Grasshopper-Club custodian suffered the injury in training on Saturday and an x-ray revealed he had fractured his right forearm. Switzerland, who play Croatia in their opening Group B game on Sunday, have called up Servette FC's Sébastien Roth as a replacement.
Third choice
Borer was behind Jörg Stiel and Pascal Zuberbühler in the goalkeeping pecking order. The injury caps a few miserable weeks for the 32-year-old, who recently fell out of favour with his club coach, Alain Geiger, after Grasshoppers lost the Swiss Cup final to FC Wil 1900.
Television appeal
Switzerland, meanwhile, struggled to get hold of the 26-year-old Roth on Saturday night. It was only after the Swiss Football Association published their number on television to alert Roth that he was wanted in Portugal, that he learned of his call-up. He was having dinner in a Swiss restaurant at the time.
Servette success
Roth has been Servette's No1 for the last one and a half seasons after replacing Marco Pascolo. He is a good keeper with excellent reflexes and played a vital role as Servette qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2003/04.
