The Leeds United winger didn't feature in either Switzerland game during the international break.
Leeds United winger Noah Okafor took a risk-averse approach to his Switzerland recall having only recently returned from injury.
Okafor was called up to replace injured compatriot Filip Ugrinić in the squad, ending a 17-month international football exile. Switzerland played two World Cup warm-up friendlies against Germany and Norway but the Leeds winger was involved in neither.
A report from Switzerland suggested Okafor was due to play some minutes against Anton Stach’s Germany, but for a minor issue picked up in training. The 25-year-old was then not in the squad to face Norway on Tuesday, with the Swiss FA releasing a statement on the matter via X.
They wrote: “Granit Xhaka and Noah Okafor are not in the squad today. Both are returning from an injury; this is a precautionary measure. The decision was made in consultation between the players and the coaching staff.”
Okafor has only just returned from a month-long absence due to a hamstring injury, coming off the bench for the final 22 minutes of Leeds’ 0-0 draw with Brentford. And it now looks like a precautionary decision was taken not to over-work the winger so quickly.
Noah Okafor clears up Leeds United injury concern
In a post on his Instagram story, Okafor wrote: “That was great fun! Very grateful for this week back with the national team. Gave everything on and off the training pitch to support the team.
“Of course, I would have liked to play too, but so soon after my injury, we decided together not to take any risks. Thank you @swissnatimen - hope to see you again very soon.”
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Leeds will be relieved to hear such an approach has been taken, with Okafor’s one-v-one quality a big miss in recent weeks. The Swiss star is hoped to play a crucial role in the Premier League relegation battle and could feature in the FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham on Sunday.
Okafor is not the only Leeds player to have been carefully managed through the break. Dominic Calvert-Lewin got 32 minutes off the bench for England against Uruguay on Friday before returning home - a decision the YEP understands was pre-planned and not linked to performance.
Daniel James and Ethan Ampadu were both initially rested for Wales’ Tuesday-evening friendly against Northern Ireland before being introduced in the second-half. Brenden Aaronson, meanwhile, got 11 minutes for the USA against Portugal overnight while Ao Tanaka came off the bench for Japan against England.
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