Senderos likely to be fit as Swiss target top spot

SWITZERLAND coach Kobi Kuhn has insisted that Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos will be fit for tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

The 20 year-old suffered an eye injury during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with France and missed last night’s first training session in Dublin.

“I think Philippe will be back to 100 per cent very soon,” said Kuhn. “I expect him to train before the match and I don’t think there will be any problem.

“Fortunately, we have no other problem at this time.”

Kuhn, meanwhile, has dismissed the notion that Switzerland can afford to play for a draw, insisting that he expects France to beat Cyprus.

That means that nothing less than a victory for the Swiss will be enough to claim top spot in Group Four.

“Even though Liechtenstein were 1-0 at half-time in Portugal, I believe France will always beat Cyprus,” said Kuhn. “But you never know. The fact is all we care about is that we beat Ireland.”

Error-prone Swiss goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuhler will be under intense pressure after his latest mistake gifted Djibril Cisse France’s goal in Berne.

Zuberbuhler’s morale was so low last month that a Swiss newspaper ran a write-in campaign to let Swiss supporters affirm their faith in the giant Basel ‘keeper.

The crisis of confidence arose from a series of blunders in the early weeks of the season. “Zubi” was at fault as Werder Bremen knocked Basel out of the Champions’ League qualifying competition and he was blamed for not saving Adoram Keisi’s looping header when Israel held Switzerland to a draw in Basel.

Worse was to follow in Nicosia, where he misjudged a long-range shot by Efstathios Aloneftis to give Cypus an unexpected equaliser before Switzerland scored two late goals to win 3-1.

“I wanted to die at that moment,” Zuberbuhler confessed later. “I felt like I had walked over my own grave.”

Lausanne paper “Le Matin” launched its “All-Behind-Zubi” campaign soon afterwards, resulting in hundreds of letters and e-mails of support being presented to the emotional goalkeeper three weeks ago.

“I’m at my best under pressure,” insists the 34-year-old, whose mix-up with Patrick Muller enabled Cisse to score.

Swiss fans will hope that Zubi’s subsequent saves from Cisse and Zinedine Zidane mark a return to the form that made him a hero of the first half of their team’s qualifying campaign last year.