FILE PHOTOS: Soccer Football - Serie A - Bologna v Salernitana - Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy - April 1, 2024 Bologna's Michel Aebischer reacts REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
(Reuters) -Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka and defender Manuel Akanji will headline the country's 26-man European Championship squad which was named by manager Murat Yakin on Friday, but striker Andi Zeqiri has missed out on a place.
Having helped Bayer Leverkusen win their first Bundesliga title last season, 31-year-old Xhaka will be instrumental to Switzerland's hopes when they kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Hungary on June 15.
Akanji, a Premier League champion with Manchester City, will lead the defence alongside Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schar, Leonidas Stergiou, Silvan Widmer and Cedric Zesiger.
Switzerland, who will also play Scotland and hosts Germany in Group A, have kept 24-year-old Genk player Zeqiri on standby.
"Andi made the decision difficult for us. He has performed very well recently. The training days in pre-camp showed that there is a lot of competition in the offence, which is why other players have been given preference," Yakin said in a statement.
"We had very good training sessions. The competition for the 26 places contributed to the high training intensity and kept the tension in the team high throughout the camp.
"I am very satisfied. With this good spirit, we now want to start the last European Championship test against Austria and then the journey to Stuttgart."
As part of their Euro preparation, Switzerland will host Austria in a friendly match on Saturday.
Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel, Yvon Mvogo, Yann Sommer
Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schar, Leonidas Stergiou, Silvan Widmer, Cedric Zesiger
Midfielders and forwards: Michel Aebischer, Zeki Amdouni, Kwadwo Duah, Breel Embolo, Remo Freuler, Ardon Jashari, Dan Ndoye, Noah Okafor, Fabian Rieder, Xherdan Shaqiri, Vincent Sierro, Renato Steffen, Ruben Vargas, Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria, Steven Zuber.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
