ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn says next week's friendly against England will be even tougher than normal as a result of England's failure to qualify for this year's European Championships.
Kuhn is expecting the English to be highly motivated as they look to atone for their Euro 2008 failure in front of the Wembley fans and also to impress new coach Fabio Capello.
"I know there's a certain risk for us to play at Wembley against a team that have to rehabilitate themselves in front of their own fans," Kuhn told Reuters as he looked ahead to Wednesday's game.
"Even if they make a lot of changes from the team that missed out on Euro 2008, there are enough good players there who will want to prove to the coach that they are future national team players.
"I think it will actually make our job harder because there will be young, hungry players who will want to prove how good English football is - and, believe me, it is good.
"But it's also a chance for us to show in London how good our football can be and will have to be. If we play as well as we can then we have a good chance of getting a great result."
While England failed to reach Euro 2008 after losing 3-2 at home to Croatia in November's final qualifying group match, the Swiss were always guaranteed a place at the finals as tournament co-hosts along with neighbouring Austria.
Nevertheless Kuhn's men have some rehabilitation of their own to do after some disappointing results in friendly matches last year.
The Swiss won just four of the 10 games they played in 2007, losing five and drawing the remaining one.
MIXED FORM
Kuhn attributes part of the reason for his team's mixed form to the strength of opposition that they have sought out as they look to hit peak form in June.
Last year's defeats included understandable setbacks against Germany, Nigeria and Colombia, along with less explicable defeats to Japan and the United States.
On the upside, the Swiss pulled off a deserved 1-1 draw at home to Argentina last June and followed that up in August with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands.
"For us it's important to play opponents who show us what is going to come our way in June," said Kuhn whose team have been drawn to play the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey in the Euro 2008 group stage.
"After the England match we'll be playing Germany again who are perhaps the best team in the world right now. But we are taking these risks knowingly so we know what to expect this summer.
"We could just arrange friendlies where we are almost guaranteed to win but that's not my way."
Kuhn, who is set to retire following Euro 2008, knows his team will be short of firepower for the England game, with regular strike pair Alex Frei and Marco Streller still recovering from lengthy injuries.
In their place, Kuhn has called up teenage FC Basel forward Eren Derdiyok who looks likely to play at least some part in the match as one of only two outright strikers in the Swiss squad.
Plenty of attention in Switzerland will focus on Kuhn's choice of goalkeeper for Wednesday's match as the coach finally puts an end to his policy of rotating between the top three contenders.
Kuhn has said that whoever he chooses for the England game can expect to be the team's first choice keeper for Euro 2008.
(Editing by Alan Baldwin)
