Zuber gets 1st Switzerland call for World Cup duty

Zuber gets 1st Switzerland call for World Cup duty

Published Aug. 29, 2013 6:55 p.m. ET

Swiss forward Steven Zuber won his first national-team call-up on Thursday for World Cup qualifying matches after a promising start with new club CSKA Moscow.

The former Grasshoppers player is the only new name in Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld's squad to host Iceland on Sept. 6 and play four days later in Norway in Group E.

Switzerland leads the six-team standings by four points from Albania, with each having four matches left.

Zuber, 22, and 21-year-old Haris Seferovic of Real Sociedad give Hitzfeld attackers who start the World Cup season in the Champions League group stage.

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Hitzfeld retained 20 players from the squad that beat Brazil 1-0 in a friendly two weeks ago, and added Zuber, Sassuolo defender Reto Ziegler and Nuremberg forward Josip Drmic.

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Switzerland Squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Yann Sommer (Basel), Marco Woelfli (Young Boys).

Defenders: Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Michael Lang (Grasshoppers), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Philippe Senderos (Fulham), Fabian Schaer (Basel), Timm Klose (Wolfsburg), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Reto Ziegler (Sassuolo).

Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Napoli), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Valentin Stocker (Basel), Tranquillo Barnetta (Schalke), Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Moenchengladbach) .

Forwards: Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad), Mario Gavranovic (Zurich), Josip Drmic (Nuremberg), Steven Zuber (CSKA Moscow).

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