ZURICH (Reuters) – Xherdan Shaqiri heads a list of four Switzerland players who have withdrawn from the country’s three internationals over the next week, the Swiss football association said on Tuesday.
Shaqiri, who signed for Olympique Lyonnais from Liverpool last week, is joined on the sidelines by Mario Gavranovic, Loris Benito and Breel Embolo.
Nice striker Dan Ndoye has been called up as a replacement for the friendly against Greece and World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Northern Ireland.
“I had only been training on my own and therefore don’t have the necessary competition rhythm yet,” Shaqiri said in a statement.
“In consultation with coach Murat Yakin and my club, we decided that I would return to Lyon to prepare for the next games at the club and also for the national team (in October).
“It was important to me to spend the first two days of the squad get-together in Basel, to take part in the start with our new coach and to see my team mates again.”
Gavranovic suffered a calf injury in training on Monday and had returned to his Turkish club Kayserispor for treatment, the Swiss FA added.
Benito has a left thigh injury while Embolo has not yet recovered from a tendon injured suffered at the European Championship, where the Swiss reached the quarter-finals.
Switzerland play Greece at home on Wednesday before meeting European champions Italy in a key World Cup Group C match in Basle on Sunday. They travel to Belfast to meet Northern Ireland in another World Cup qualifier next week.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
