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Unlikely rivals France hopes to improve record against SwissPosted: Monday August 18, 2003 11:38 AMPARIS (AP) -- In soccer terms it would be inappropriate to call France and Switzerland evenly matched. However, in matches opposing the two nations this has been largely the case. Their friendly Wednesday evening in Geneva will be the 32nd meeting between the nations -- with France holding a slender 13-12 advantage in wins. Remarkably, both sides have scored 56 times against each other. This is where the similarity ends. While France has won two European Championships (1984 and 2000) and one World Cup in 1998 -- Switzerland is a minnow by comparison and has never won a major international title. But, Switzerland is in good form and tops its Euro 2004 qualifying Group 10 ahead of Republic of Ireland and Russia. Like France, top of Group 1, Switzerland is unbeaten in qualifying so far. In a blow for Switzerland, Paris Saint-Germain new signing Hakan Yakin will miss Wednesday's match after undergoing a hernia operation Friday. The operation has provoked fury at PSG, which is threatening to terminate the creative midfielder's four-year contract after its own doctors said there was no hernia and surgery was unnecessary. Switzerland's veteran striker Stephane Chapuisat, 34, is poised to win his 94th cap Wednesday and will look to add to his 21 international goals. He scored in the 4-1 rout of Romania during the 1994 World Cup -- Switzerland's last appearance on soccer's biggest stage. The Swiss, now coached by Koebi Kuhn, last played France in May 1992, clinching a 2-1 win on two goals from Swiss striker Christophe Bonvin. France will likely be tested against the Swiss -- which could be a good thing with two vital Euro 2004 qualifiers looming. France hosts Cyprus at Stade de France on Sept. 6, then travels to face Slovenia in Llubjana on Sept. 10. A win and a draw from those two games -- France has won all five previous qualifiers -- would guarantee Les Bleus a ticket for Euro 2004, which begins in Portugal on June 12. Thierry Henry, who finished France's top scorer in its Confederations Cup win in June, will likely be reunited in attack with David Trezeguet of Juventus. Both have 22 goals for France, although Trezeguet boasts a better strike rate -- having been selected 43 times and Henry 51. Midfield maestro Zinedine Zidane, like Trezeguet, missed the Confederations Cup and returns to play his first international since April and his 83rd overall. Zidane, in rich scoring form with three strikes in his last two France matches, will seek to add to his tally of 22 goals. |
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