Injuries to Arsenal's Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet of Juventus have prompted the national coach Raymond Domenech to call for a reduction in the number of competitive matches in a season. Henry has been out for several weeks with a groin strain while Trezeguet injured a thigh playing for Juventus in their 2-0 win over Internazionale on Sunday and Domenech admits that their absence from France's final World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Cyprus is a massive blow.
"I have to say it was amazing to see players having played 75 games like I saw last year," Domenech said. "Stop increasing the number of games. I saw Juventus-Internazionale on TV and, when I saw Trezeguet depart, I stopped watching. I wondered how many players would be at Clairefontaine with me today. Players are under pressure every day; it is time to stop things like that."
France are second in Group 4, level on 16 points with the leaders Switzerland, whom they meet in Bern on Saturday.
A thigh injury has also ruled the Czech Republic midfielder Vladimir Smicer out of his country's game against Holland, adding to Karel Brueckner's problems. "I've been through enough to know that only healthy players can be on the pitch," the Girondins Bordeaux player said, adding that he did not want to aggravate the injury further.
Smicer joins the strikers Jan Koller and Vratislav Lokvenc on the Czech injury list. The Aston Villa striker Milan Baros has an Achilles problem but is expected to be fit to face the Dutch. The captain Tomas Galasek is also on the mend from a bruised foot. Doctors said yesterday that he was 95% fit and the Ajax Amsterdam midfielder should start.
The Czechs trail the Group One leaders Holland by four points, with two matches remaining, and are two points ahead of third-placed Romania, who have only one game left to play. They host Holland in Prague on Saturday and face Finland in Helsinki four days later.