Zuber gets 1st Switzerland call for World Cup duty

BERN, Switzerland (AP) Swiss forward Steven Zuber won his first national-team call-up on Thursday for World Cup qualifying matches after a promising start with new club CSKA Moscow.

The former Grasshoppers player is the only new name in Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld's squad to host Iceland on Sept. 6 and play four days later in Norway in Group E.

Switzerland leads the six-team standings by four points from Albania, with each having four matches left.

Zuber, 22, and 21-year-old Haris Seferovic of Real Sociedad give Hitzfeld attackers who start the World Cup season in the Champions League group stage.

Hitzfeld retained 20 players from the squad that beat Brazil 1-0 in a friendly two weeks ago, and added Zuber, Sassuolo defender Reto Ziegler and Nuremberg forward Josip Drmic.

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Switzerland Squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Yann Sommer (Basel), Marco Woelfli (Young Boys).

Defenders: Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Michael Lang (Grasshoppers), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Philippe Senderos (Fulham), Fabian Schaer (Basel), Timm Klose (Wolfsburg), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Reto Ziegler (Sassuolo).

Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Napoli), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Valentin Stocker (Basel), Tranquillo Barnetta (Schalke), Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Moenchengladbach) .

Forwards: Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad), Mario Gavranovic (Zurich), Josip Drmic (Nuremberg), Steven Zuber (CSKA Moscow).