A valiant performance from
Switzerland ensured
Ottmar Hitzfeld's team claimed the shock of the
World Cup so far against
European champions
Spain as
Gelson Fernandes bundled home a winner in
Durban.
The
Spaniards dominated possession for the entire game but found themselves up against a resolute and disciplined
Swiss side, who refused to lose shape versus their opponents' passing football.
And in the 52nd minute, Spain were left reeling when
Fernandes pounced on uncertain defending, with a cut and bloodied
Gerard Pique indicative of how
Vicente del Bosque's side must have felt come the final whistle.
Such is Spain's frightening strength in depth, head coach
Del Bosque had the luxury of leaving
Fernando Torres and
Cesc Fabregas on the substitutes' bench while
Andres Iniesta passed a late fitness test and did make the starting XI. For Switzerland, key striker
Alexander Frei did not start after arriving in
South Africa with an ankle injury.
Premier League referee
Howard Webb's whistle got the game under way, with Spain typically neat in the early exchanges, forcing their opponents to exhaustingly chase shadows. But, for all Spain's possession, goalkeeper
Diego Benaglio was only called into action in the 10th minute, diving at the feet of
David Villa to smother.
Then five minutes later, new
Fulham defender
Philippe Senderos, whose father is
Spanish, had a heart in mouth moment when he clumsily tackled
David Silva in the penalty area, felling the playmaker. But, to the Swiss stopper's relief,
Webb waved away some half-hearted appeals for a spot-kick.
Disciplined
Spain continued to tease the disciplined Swiss,who were
undone down the left on 17 minutes as
Silva drove a shot at Benaglio before, on the other flank,
Sergio Ramos collected a searching pass in an advanced position, but dragged his effort harmlessly wide of the goal.
Then, after Iniesta saw a deflected strike comfortably gathered by Benaglio, the
Barcelona schemer executed a wonderful disguised pass that found
Pique in the area. The centre-back, similar to his goal in the
UEFA Champions League semi-final against
Inter Milan, demonstrated nimble feet, only to see his finish expertly saved by the spread-eagled Benaglio.
Thereafter followed a tale of two free-kicks.
First, former
Tottenham player
Reto Ziegler saw a skimming shot dealt with easily by
Iker Casillas. Then, up the other end,
Stephane Grichting went into the book for a foul on Iniesta, with the resulting free-kick slammed into the wall by David Villa
.
In the 35th minute,
Senderos' outing came to a premature end after he limped off with an injury, the centre-back replaced by
Steve von Bergen. But the change altered little to the pattern of the game as a frustrated Spain continued to dominate but failed to land a knock-out punch, despite
Villa's best efforts, as another non-event of a first period at this year's World Cup came to an end.
Spain picked up the second half where they left the first as they penned back Switzerland.
Alonso saw a bending shot deflect wide for a corner, which was worked cleverly and resulted in Benaglio flicking away a looping header from
Sergio Busquets.
However, in the 52nd minute, the unthinkable happened. A long ball down field caused havoc in the centre of Spain's defence as
Eren Derdiyok won the flick-on.
The European champions crumbled in the box, with bodies hitting the deck, to allow ex-Manchester
City midfielder Fernandes to pounce and stab the ball home into an empty net.
Spain's response was to thrown on
Torres and
Jesus Navas for Busquets and Silva in the 62nd minute, switching to a 4-4-2, but not before Villa was expertly slipped in on goal by
Xavi's reverse through ball, only to see his stab at goal blocked away bravely by the onrushing Benaglio.
Torres
And the changes almost had the desired effect after a nuisance caused by both Torres and
Navas helped fashion an opportunity for Iniesta, whose bending shot did not curl enough as it whistled past the wrong side of the post, with Benaglio a helpless onlooker.
Spain's switch in system and personnel continued to pay dividends as Torres twice threatened to restore parity. Then on 70 minutes,
Real Madrid star Alonso hammered a first-time effort goalwards, the effort cracking back off the bar and out, before Navas danced forward but struggled to generate power on his strike.
- published: 16 Jun 2010
- views: 257418