Hitzfeld picks four newcomers in first squad
Switzerland's coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has included four new faces in his first national team squad, which will play Cyprus in an August 20 friendly.
The former Bayern Munich coach gave first call-ups on Wednesday to midfielders Almen Abdi of FC Zurich and Aarau’s Sandro Burki, defender Alain Nef of Udinese, and Basel’s teenage striker Valentin Stocker.
Veteran striker Hakan Yakin was also chosen in the 22-man squad despite leaving Europe last month to play for Qatar’s champion club Al-Gharafa. Yakin scored all three Swiss goals in Euro 2008, which Switzerland co-hosted with Austria, in June.
Hitzfeld, a 60-year-old German who won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern, took over from Köbi Kuhn, who retired after Euro 2008.
Switzerland play Cyprus in Geneva to prepare for 2010 World Cup qualification matches against Israel in Tel Aviv on September 6 and Luxembourg in Zurich on September 10. The other teams in European qualifying Group 2 are Greece, Latvia and Moldova.
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