FIRST TEAM
10/11/2017

Zuber and Switzerland pushed into World Cup qualifying play-offs.

Five TSG players rounded out the international break on the final day of fixtures last night. Philipp Ochs and Felix Passlack were part of the Germany under-21 team which lost to Norway in qualifying for the 2019 European Championships, while Gregor Kobel played in goal for the Swiss under-21s against Liechtenstein. Justin Hoogma appeared for the Netherlands against the Ukraine. Steven Zuber played for the Swiss senior team in their decisive final qualifier with Portugal, but a defeat means he must now reach Russia next year through the play-offs.

Switzerland travelled to Lisbon knowing a point would be enough, but an own goal from Johan Djourou and a strike from Andre Silva saw the pre-match favourites and reigning European champions through automatically. 26-year-old Zuber came on in the 66th minute and played nearly half an hour. Switzerland join Andrej Kramaric’s Croatia in the play-off round. Sandro Wagner is the only Hoffenheim player who has already confirmed his qualification for next summer.

Passlack and Ochs meanwhile found themselves on the end of a surprising loss for Stefan Kuntz’s Germany under-21s, who went down 3-1 to Norway despite taking the lead. Ochs made his second start at international level, while Passlack made his debut after being brought on in the 61st minute.

Kobel’s time with Switzerland under-21s went much better, as he managed to keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein. Hoogma’s day was also quiet, but he spent his on the bench after being an unused sub for the Netherlands' 1-1 draw with Ukraine in their under-21 European qualifier.

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