Müller cautious about his EURO role

Müller cautious about his EURO role




After a season spent on the sidelines, Switzerland defender Patrick Müller is back in contention following his cruciate ligament injury but it is still not known if he will be fit enough to feature in the UEFA EURO 2008™ opener on Saturday.

Shaky performance
Following his year-long absence, Müller returned to action in Switzerland's 2-0 victory over Slovakia, but looked shaky in last week's 3-0 win against Liechtenstein. "I am alright from a health point of view," said Müller, who has dominated the football talk in his homeland. "But I am surely not back to 100 per cent, other players are fitter than me." That was confirmed by team doctor Roland Grossen who said: "His healing has been completed. Everything else is now a question of training."

Tournament write-off
The Olympique Lyonnais defender tore cruciate ligaments in his right knee last December and immediately wrote himself out of UEFA EURO 2008™, saying: "I will be out for six months and the tournament starts in June. I have a 0.00001 per cent chance of making it there."

'Sign of trust'
Fast forward six months, and the 31-year old finds himself sitting in the media tent and in a relaxed mood while telling uefa.com: "It is a miracle that I am here. I am happy that the coach has taken me into the squad. It is a sign of trust, and I hope that I will be able to pay him back for that."

Race against time
Yet he knows time is running out and he is lacking match practice. "Usually, healing after a torn cruciate ligament takes six months. I had surgery on 7 December, and the opening game is on 7 June – exactly six months." The experienced defender – Switzerland coach Jakob Kuhn calls him an "intelligent player" – appears unsure himself whether he can take a full part in the tournament.

'It counts now'
"Before, [the games] were just friendlies. Now it counts. You have to be 100 per cent fit for that. We will see on Saturday how the coach will have made up his mind. I cannot say that I am at 100 per cent right now. But, if I have to play, I will give it everything I've got. Since things are getting started now, I can maybe forget about my knee and other things aside from the game." The matter will be addressed in discussions between Müller and the coach and it is expected that Kuhn will leave the final decision to the player.

Organisation the key
Should he play, he will resume his role of organising the defence. "As a central defender, I try to direct the team in front of me. I will communicate a lot because I think that this is the most important thing, to be well organised." But even if he does not make it out onto the pitch, Müller, capped 78 times, has an important role to play within the squad. As assistant coach Michel Pont confirmed at today's press conference: "For the squad, we tried to find the right balance between experienced and young players. This is one of the reasons why Patrick is here."

Barnetta returns
Meanwhile, midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta has returned to full training for the first time after recovering from an ankle injury. The Bayer 04 Leverkusen player was cautious in what he did as the squad went through their paces but as long as he suffers no reaction he is likely to be included in Saturday's game in his customary left-midfield role. Otherwise FC Salzburg's Johan Vonlanthen stands by.