Murat Yakin is using the Swiss national team's upcoming friendlies against Northern Ireland (March 21 in Belfast) and Luxembourg (March 25 in St. Gallen) to scout four newcomers, including two 28-year-olds who are unknown in this country.
The national coach named Lausanne's Alvyn Sanches, Leeds' Isaac Schmidt, Argentina international Lucas Blondel and, surprisingly, Danish-Swiss central defender Stefan Gartenmann from Ferencvaros Budapest for the first time on Thursday. Ardon Jashari is missing, as is captain Granit Xhaka, who will become a father for the third time in the next few days.
Gartenmann, who has ancestors in the canton of Thurgau and has held a Swiss passport since Tuesday, has made a name for himself in the Europa League this season. The 28-year-old, 1.87 m tall native Dane, who has also played for Midtylland in Denmark and Aberdeen in Scotland, beat Nice, Dynamo Kiev and Malmö, among others, with the Hungarians.
The nomination of Lucas Blondel, the 28-year-old right-back from Boca Juniors, had already been announced. Lausanne's 22-year-old fine player Sanches, the Super League's third-highest scorer, is also making his first appearance in a national team camp.
Isaac Schmidt, who has not yet really arrived at Leeds, will also be able to gain his first experience with the senior national team. Davide Callà, Murat Yakin's new assistant coach who succeeds Giorgio Contini, is also taking part for the first time.
Jashari missing through injury
Jashari will miss the first match of the year due to injury. The 22-year-old FC Brugge midfielder had to be substituted after 58 minutes in the Champions League round of 16 second leg at Aston Villa on Wednesday. Other notable absentees alongside Xhaka and the injured Manuel Akanji are Nico Elvedi, Silvan Widmer, Ulisses Garcia and Edimilson Fernandes. Dereck Kutesa, the Super League's top scorer, Stuttgart defender Leonidas Stergiou and Filip Ugrinic of Young Boys were also left out of the squad.
The friendly match against Northern Ireland will take place on Friday, March 21, in Belfast. Four days later, the national team will host Luxembourg in St. Gallen.
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Yakin on Sow
"He was a regular in Frankfurt, in Spain he's only now slowly getting back into the rhythm. Djibril now has more confidence in himself, I hope he can also show this in the national team."
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Yakin on young forces
"We certainly still have time to give some candidates the chance to develop further before the summer."
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Yakin on Sanches
"Sanches is a great talent, even if he's struggled a bit in the last three games. I spoke to him on the phone and he's delighted."
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Yakin on Blondel
"A player from Boca Juniors, from the world champion country, that's of course a great thing. But it's a change of culture with new players."
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Yakin on Kutesa/Ugrinic
"I saw Dereck live on Sunday, he wasn't quite in the game then. He's certainly one of the candidates I'm keeping an eye on. Filip had slight medical problems, so I've left him out for the time being. The same goes for Stergiou. I'll be at the YB-Basel game on Sunday, so I can react then if someone is unavailable. "
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Yakin on new leaders
"Xhaka and Akanji can also be absent in the fall. Kobel has to take responsibility from the back, he has the personality for it. Gartenmann is also a leader, Cédric Zesiger is also stable at the moment with Augsburg - we want to spread the roles over several shoulders. But of course, you can't replace Granit 1:1."
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Yakin on the absence of Xhaka and Akanji
"We are certainly young and new in defense. Offensively, I have enough to choose from. In preparation, the focus will certainly be on defense"
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Yakin on Jashari
"Jashari would like to use the break to heal an inflammation. I visited him in Manchester, he is highly motivated, his refusal is for health reasons. I had actually made firm plans with him."
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Yakin on young goalkeepers
"Loretz is currently being given the chance as goalkeeper number 3, and we might want to test Marvin (Keller) in the summer."
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Yakin on Okafor
"When he's in rhythm and in form, Okafor will certainly be an issue for us again."
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Yakin on the new-look defense
"We have the option of starting Gartenmann and Amenda together in central defense. I know what I have in Nico Elvedi. I want to use the opportunity to try out new and young candidates in the next two games."
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Yakin on the Gartenmann personnel
Yakin: "I visited him in Budapest, he is a robust central defender, fighter and leader. I got a tip that he was ready to play for Switzerland. He wants to make his grandfather proud, he has ancestors in Thurgau. He doesn't see any chance in Denmark because of the competition. He has had a Swiss passport since Tuesday. It wasn't a problem with the passport because he's based in Switzerland and has direct Swiss lineage."
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The squad for the next two games
As announced by blue Sport, there are three newcomers in the squad: Alvyn Sanches, Lucas Blondel and Stefan Gartenmann. Isaac Schmidt is also a new face in the SFV squad.
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Callà happy about new assistant coach
Yakin on the new appointment of Davide Callà: "I'm very happy that it worked out with him."
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Yakin probably pulls three newcomers out of the hat
blue Sport learned before the squad announcement that a 28-year-old Dane will also be in the 26-man squad. Stefan Gartenmann is a central defender from Ferencvaros Budapest and has Swiss roots.
The day before, news had already leaked out that Lausanne's Alvyn Sanches and Lucas Blondel from Boca Juniors would be called up for the first time.
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Short training camp and two test matches
Murat Yakin uses the short training camp in Portugal and the two test matches against Northern Ireland and Luxembourg for one or two experiments.
