Sunday Jun 25 2006 15:28
Switzerland will be without the services of influential defender Philippe Senderos for Monday's last 16 encounter with Ukraine after he dislocated his shoulder in Friday's 2-0 win over South Korea.
The Arsenal youngster scored the opening goal in the victory but suffered ligament damage in the second half of the game and faces at least two weeks on the sidelines.
Coach Jakob Kuhn is looking to guide Switzerland into the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time since 1954 and is expected to draft Johan Djourou into his starting line-up to replace Senderos.
"Taking seven points from the group stage and not letting in any goals was a great achievement for a Swiss team," he said.
"We've reached our original target of a place in the second round but now it's a knockout format and we know we can still go further.
"It's certainly possible for this team to reach the quarter-finals. We can go into the next game with huge self-confidence, knowing that our opponents will also be taking us seriously now."
Kuhn's side topped Group G after keeping clean sheets against France, Togo and South Korea.
Valon Behrami has recovered from a groin injury and could start after coming on as a late substitute against South Korea, while Hakan Yakin impressed in the 2-0 win. Ludovic Magnin and Marco Streller were rested for Friday's victory but could return against Ukraine.
Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin has a defensive headache as he is likely to be withut Dmytro Chygrynskyy who has a thigh injury while Vyacheslav Sviderskiy and Andriy Rusol are suspended after picking up second yellow cards against Tunisia.
Blokhin is in a relaxed mood going into the game though, saying: "We have already achieved the goal we set ourselves before the finals."
Ukraine have been inconsistent in the tournament so far. They were thrashed 4-0 by Spain before finding their best form in the 4-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia. However, they struggled again in their third Group H match - an unimpressive 1-0 victory against Tunisia.
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