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Deprived of Thierry Henry, France’s scoring woes continued with a nil-all draw against Switzerland in Saturday’s Group 4 World Cup qualifier.
With group rivals Israel and the Republic of Ireland drawing one-all earlier in the evening, Les Bleus began the match in positive fashion, chasing the win that would finally see them break clear at the top of the standings.
Henry’s late withdrawal from the squad due to a niggling calf strain, saw France Coach Raymond Domenech opt to play in-form Lyon forward Sylvain Wiltord alongside Juventus hit-man David Trezeguet in attack, however it was captain Patrick Vieira who squandered the first chance of the match after just two minutes, firing wide after good work from William Gallas in the Swiss penalty box.
Switzerland seemed intent to try and hit their hosts on the counterattack and twice, inside the opening five minutes, France had ‘keeper Fabien Barthez to thank for a pair of smart saves, firstly denying Ziegler and then Degen.
France’s best chance of the opening half again fell to captain Vieira who saw his initial header saved on the line by PSV Eindhoven’s Vogel before blazing the follow up agonisingly wide of the mark with the goal at his mercy.
The 1998 World Cup winners began to turn up the heat.
Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly’s pace down the right wing and Marseille midfielder Benoït Pedretti’s dead-ball delivery carved out several gilt-edged chances for the strike duo of Wiltord and Trezeguet, without reward.
It was then the turn of the Swiss to fight back before the break and Jean-Alain Boumsong almost headed into his own net before a flowing counterattack, initiated by Rennes striker Alexander Frei, served Grasshopper playmaker Cabanas inside the area, only for Barthez to sprawl himself to his left and palm the ball to safety.
France began the second half looking to re-impose themselves on proceedings. Pedretti looked up to release Wiltord but ‘keeper Zuberbuhler was out quickly to smother the shot.
However, Zuberbuhler was beaten just five minutes later when a superb interchange between Dhorasoo and Wiltord saw the latter’s curling right foot shot just fail to sneak inside the far right-hand upright.
Just a minute after replacing a largely disappointing Dhorasoo, Bordeaux playmaker Camel Meriem earned a free kick on the edge of the area, only for Pedretti to chip his right-footed shot harmlessly over the crossbar, with just 20 minutes to go.
A yellow card for Vieira’s lunge from behind on Swiss striker Frei was indicative of the home side’s growing frustration at being unable to unlock a visitor’s defence expertly marshalled by former Lyon captain Muller.
With just 13 minutes left on the clock Trezeguet wasted the best chance to finally give France the lead. Brilliantly controlling Wiltord’s incisive cross, the striker was again denied by an inspired Zuberbuhler, expertly anticipating the shot in launching himself low to his left.
If Trezeguet’s miss raised the ire of the Stade de France public, Vieira was unable to lighten the mood with his country’s final chance, when his right foot shot drew another quality save from the Swiss custodian.
The result was Domenech’s side third consecutive home draw of the World Cup qualifying campaign and they join Israel and the Republic of Ireland on nine points from five games at the top of the Group 4 standings, with Switzerland another three points behind, but with a game in hand.
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