Group G: Togo v Switzerland The Togo World Cup "fairytale" is fast turning into squalid soap opera. Ten days into these finals, the Togo players were yesterday still arguing about match bonuses. So much so that they missed their scheduled flight to Dortmund and at one point, until the intervention of Fifa, appeared to be threatening a boycott of today's game with Switzerland.
Remember, preparations for their World Cup debut against South Korea had been interrupted when German coach Otto Pfister walked out on the squad in frustration at the squabbling between players and Federation. Pfister claimed yesterday that the dispute is finally settled but one can only wonder as to how focused the team will be this afternoon.
Beaten 2-1 by South Korea in a game that was theirs for the taking, Togo will have to do better against a Swiss side that held ageing France to a 0-0 draw in their opening game. Togo will be without suspended captain Jean-Paul Abalo, due to be replaced by Bayer Leverkusen's 18-year-old-defender Assimiou Toure. Experienced Guincamp striker Mohammed Kadir, Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Moustapha Salifou of Stade Brest will again lead the attack.
Bouyed by that draw against France and in what could be a very tight group, Switzerland must now fancy their chances of making it to the second round. Having held Thierry Henry et al scoreless, Swiss defenders Philippe Senderos of Arsenal and Ludovic Magnin of Stuttgart will expect to do well against Togo. However, strikers Alexander Frei and Marco Streller will need to raise their game.
Probable line-ups
Togo (4-4-2)
Agassa: Nibombe, Toure, Tchangai, Agboh; Romao, Salifou, Forson Cherif-Maman; Kader, Adebayor
Switzerland (4-4-2)
Zuberbuehler; Magnin, Senderos, Mueller, Degen; Wicky, Vogel, Cabanas, Barnetta; Frei, Streller
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)
Kick-off: 2.0pm
Venue: Westfalenstadion, Dortmund
On TV: RTÉ 2 and BBC1
