Soccer News of Friday, 20 June 2014

Source: ghanaweb.com

Deschamps: Cabaye fit to face Switzerland

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder picked up a groin problem in the 3-0 win over Honduras but has been given the green light to start at Arena Fonte Nova France boss Didier Deschamps has confirmed that Yohan Cabaye is available for Friday's World Cup Group E showdown with Switzerland in Salvador.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was forced off with a groin problem during the second half of his Les Bleus' tournament-opening win over Honduras and there were fears that he would be unavailable for the remainder of the group stage.

However has been given the all-clear to feature at Arena Fonte Nova.

"Yohan is totally fit," Deschamps confirmed in his pre-game press conference. "He's recovered, he trained today [Thursday] so there is no problem with him."

Deschamps also insisted that Olivier Giroud was fine. The Arsenal ace admitted that he was disappointed not to have started against Honduras but his coach dismissed the suggestion that the striker was feeling down.

"He's part of a group that won their first game in the World Cup and, just like everyone else in the group, he's currently getting ready to try to win the second game," the former Juventus boss explained.

"That's all. No difference.

"We have a match every five days. We've worked a lot during our preparations and I want them all to be ready for tomorrow [Friday].

"Only 11 can be on the pitch but I want all 23 to be available; to be ready. And they are."

Deschamps, though, is well aware of threat posed to France's hopes of topping the group by a Swiss side ranked sixth in the world.

"They have players that can counter attack well," the World Cup winner mused. "As a team, they perform best when they're compact. They don't leave much space. Their opponents end up leaving the space.

"The Swiss team has a lot of strong points. They qualified easily and they've only one defeat in their last 10. They also beat Brazil.

"Look at their players: most of them belong to great European clubs. They're the top seed in our group.

"This will be a very tough opponent for us."