Euro 2008 a damp squib farewell for Kobi Kuhn?
Swiss coach Jakob Kuhn must hope that when his players kick off the Euro 2008 tournament against the Czech Republic on June 7, this last chapter in his long career will prove a blaze of glory rather than a damp squib.
Kuhn – affectionately known by the diminutive “Kobi” – has managed the national side since 2001, helping Switzerland to qualify for Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, where they reached the last 16 of the latter before going out on penalties to Ukraine having not conceded a goal in the tournament.
64-year-old Kuhn announced back in 2006 that he would step down after Euro 2008 but insists he will be keeping his eye on the ball right up to the final whistle.
Switzerland has not covered itself in footballing glory in recent years, and lost against England and Germany in recent months.
But Kuhn has said he believes the side has a real chance of qualifying from its group despite being pitted against better-placed sides Portugal, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
“It’s do-able. I would never have said that had we had a similar draw to four years ago,” Kuhn said when the draw was announced last December. In the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal, Switzerland finished bottom of their group behind France, England and Croatia.
Kuhn added it was an open group but that the first match against the Czech Republic would be vital in setting the tone for the rest of their fixtures. “Defeat against the Czechs would put us in a delicate position,” he added.
The former midfielder has not forgotten that he was on the losing side in all Switzerland’s matches during the finals in Chile and England in 1962 and 1966, including a 5-0 drubbing by Germany. As under-21 coach in the 1990s, he was at the heart of a successful youth team policy that snapped up young talent at national level often before they even reached major clubs.The church-going Kuhn cuts a fatherly figure amongst the testosterone-driven ‘alpha male’ world of international football but has not been afraid to wield the knife when needed.
Last March, he dropped then-captain Johann Vogel before a series of international friendlies, saying the defender lacked the killer instinct.
“Johann is not bringing what he should. It’s not enough to be happy to play, I want a leader,” he said. He has also insisted that his players act as role models both on and off the pitch, declaring that “honesty and courtesy have not become outdated.”
He will be replaced by former Bayern Munich manager Otmar Hitzfeld, and the “General” of German football has lavish praise for his predecessor. “He has an outstanding personality, which rubs off on the team,” Hitzfeld said back before the last Euro championships in 2004.
“I played against him often, he was always a classy player. The Kobi Kuhn of the seventies would even be a national team player today,” he said.
Hitzfeld himself is no stranger to Swiss football, having played for Basel, Lugano and Lucerne between 1971 and 1983 and then coaching Zug, Aarau and Grashoppers from 1984 to 1991.
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Add comment May 15th, 2008
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