Runaway Mueller gets Swiss berth

Patrick Mueller's decision to leave Olympique Lyon without permission to play for his national team last week was rewarded yesterday with a place in Switzerland's final 23-man Euro 2008 squad. Mueller, 31, made the final cut but Switzerland coach Koebi...

Patrick Mueller's decision to leave Olympique Lyon without permission to play for his national team last week was rewarded yesterday with a place in Switzerland's final 23-man Euro 2008 squad.

Mueller, 31, made the final cut but Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn axed fellow defender Mario Eggimann and striker Thomas Haeberli from the 25-man provisional squad that has been training in Lugano for the past 10 days.

Mueller, who played just one first-team match for French league champions Lyon last season, left the club on the eve of Saturday's French Cup final because he wanted to play in a Swiss friendly against Slovakia on the same day to prove his fitness.

The central defender tore a cruciate knee ligament in December but was in commanding form during Switzerland's 2-0 friendly win on Saturday.

Switzerland, who will co-host Euro 2008 along with neighbouring Austria, will play one more warm-up match against Liechtenstein tomorrow.

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