Switzerland loaded with Bundesliga and Serie A talent

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, May 13, 2014

[WORLD CUP 2014] Switzerland, the Group E top seed, is loaded with players from Germany and Italy. Fourteen of the 23 players called in by veteran coach Ottmar Hitzfeld for the World Cup play in the Bundesliga or Serie A.

They include Stephan Lichtsteiner from Italian champion Juventus and Zherdan Shaqiri from German champion Bayern Munich.

The squad is very young with three players only 21 -- Ricardo Rodriguez, Josip Drmic and Granit Xhaka -- and just three players as old as 30 -- Diego Benaglio, Steve von Bergen and Lichtsteiner.

The Swiss will play Jamaica and Peru in home friendlies before heading to Brazil.

Switzerland Roster (23 Players):
Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg/GER), Roman Buerki (Grasshopper), Yann Sommer (FC Basel).
Defenders: Johan Djourou (Hamburg/GER), Michael Lang (Grasshopper), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus/ITA), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg/GER), Fabian Schaer (Basel), Philippe Senderos (Valencia/SPA), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Reto Ziegler (Sassuolo/ITA).
Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Valon Behrami (Napoli/ITA), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli/ITA), Gelson Fernandes (Freiburg/GER), Gokhan Inler (Napoli/ITA), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich/GER), Valentin Stocker (FC Basel).
Forwards: Josip Drmic (Nuremberg/GER), Mario Gavranovic (FC Zurich), Admir Mehmedi (Freiburg/GER), Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad/SPA), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER).