Swiss Call on the Gods, French Call Zidane

Switzerland, which has had a player sent off in each of its two games so far in Euro 2004, is looking out for black cats crossing the road, ladders leaning nonchalantly against walls and the odd four-leaf clover on the pitch in Coimbra as they take on France on Monday.

The Swiss need to beat France by three goals and hope Croatia and England draw for the seemingly impossible to happen and for them to book a quarter-final place at the expense of the reigning champions.

"We are still in the tournament and that is good," said Switzerland coach Kobi Kuhn. "I can only hope that the god of football will decide to wear red and white a little."

Swiss aim to break goal drought

The Swiss have just one point from their two group games, both of which they finished with a man short after seeing red against Croatia and England. But it won't just be a prayer for all his players to stay on the pitch that Kuhn will be offering up, he'll hope that his Swiss side can finally break a scoring drought. The Swiss have not managed a goal in either of their games so far.

"We had our chances to score against England but did not take them. The team attacked more but without the confidence to score a goal," the coach lamented.

His opposite number will not be leaving his European Champions' chances to the gods of chance, however. Jacques Santini is expected to make some major tactical changes for the game against Switzerland after seeing his side of expensive stars come apart against Croatia and scrape a lucky draw.

Santini looking to mix it up

"They all know how we play and they prepare themselves accordingly. It's not the plan we had before coming here and I'm not certain that changing our strategy completely would bring back the efficiency we are lacking," the French coach mused at the team's press conference at the weekend. "But when you have an option it can be interesting sometimes to change it slightly or at least to think about making it change slightly."

It would be fair that no-one has seen the best from France yet but there is always the danger that form is just one magical performance away with stars like Zidane, Henry and Trezeguet on the cusp of retaining their full spark. Playmaker Zidane, who has been mostly used on the left side, could be slotted into his favored position in the center of midfield as Santini goes for the kill and quarter-final qualification.

France looking for full speed ahead

"We are obviously not at 100 percent," the French coach added. "I would rather say we are about at 80 percent physically and mentally. Our opponents have managed to cut out the link between our midfield and strikers. We made too many mistakes in our defensive positions. We have given back too many balls back. We now have to learn from this match to prepare for Switzerland."

Santini's side need a point from their final Group B match to be sure of a place in the last eight.

Switzerland (probable): Stiel, Spycher, Murat Yakin, Henchoz, Muller, Huggel, Celestini, Hakan Yakin, Wicky, Chapuisat, Frei.

France (probable): Barthez; Gallas, Thuram, Desailly (or Silvestre), Lizarazu, Pires, Vieira, Makelele, Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet.