World Cup fears over injured Frei
The captain of the Swiss national football team, Alex Frei, has injured his ankle, and may not be fit to play in Switzerland’s first World Cup game.
The accident occurred while Switzerland’s national team was training at Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium on Wednesday.
Frei was trying to get the ball away from colleague Steve von Bergen, who was not hurt.
According to team doctor Cuno Wetzel, the Basel FC player has a bruised and sprained ankle.
Team coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said he hoped that even if Frei was not able to take part in Switzerland’s first match against Spain, scheduled for June 16, he would be able to play in later games.
Frei left for South Africa on Wednesday night with the rest of the team.
The stroke of bad luck came just two days before the 2010 football World Cup kicks off.
In the Euro 2008 championship Frei suffered a knee injury in Switzerland’s very first match. He was unable to take any further part in the tournament, in which Switzerland failed to get beyond the first round.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.