Swiss confident of rolling French

SWISS defender Patrick Müller believes his side can inflict a long overdue defeat on France when they meet in Ireland’s World Cup qualifying Group 4 in Paris on Saturday.

The Swiss have not beaten France since a 2-1 victory in Lausanne 13 years ago. The sides last met in June when two Thierry Henry goals helped the French secure a 3-1 win in the European championships in Portugal.

However, Müller believes that latter performance gives them hope of breaking their 13-year winless streak against the former World and European champions.

"In Portugal, we created chances to win and we must always think positively as a team," he said.

Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu and Claude Makelele may have gone since the game in Portugal but Müller warned against complacency at the Stade de France.

"Of course they have lost a few experienced players and you cannot replace the likes of Zidane easily he was a very important part of their team," Müller said.

"But at the same time we cannot afford to be too relaxed against a team that still has the likes of Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Patrick Vieira in their lineup.

"We must concentrate on the players that they still have, not on the ones that have left. They are still a very strong side, but we gained confidence by giving them a hard game the last time we played."

The 28-year-old signed for FC Basel 1893 in January, and feels he matured as a player during his four-year stint in France with Olympique Lyonnais.

"I am not loud or brash, but I do seek out responsibility on the pitch," he said.

"Every player, whether they are 20 or 30, should accept responsibility. I get a good overview of what is happening at the back. I try to put across my thoughts in a controlled, sensible manner and not by screaming because that is not being positive."

Switzerland started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a thumping 6-0 defeat of the Faroe Islands, but were then held to successive draws against the Republic and Israel. They currently sit in third spot with five points, three behind Ireland, France and Israel, but with a game in hand.

A timely 2-1 victory in a friendly against the United Arab Emirates in February, in which Müller volleyed in a superb winner, got Switzerland back to winning ways. "The national team hadn't played together for a while so it was important for team spirit to play that game," Müller said.

"The win has boosted our confidence for the game against France. We obviously want to win but we don't need to because there are still of lot of games to come.

"Having said that, we need to get as many points as fast as possible and try to qualify quickly," Müller said.