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Two early first-half goals from Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi gave France the initiative that they never surrendered. Further goals from Valbuena, Benzema and Sissoko meant that Switzerland succumbed to their heaviest defeat in the World Cup since losing 5-0 to West Germany in 1966.The pace and power of the French attack proved too much for the Swiss, even though they scored a couple of consolation goals.Here are the five major talking points from the game.
#1 Frances fast and furious attack outwits the slow and laboured Swiss defence
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Didier Deschamps’ decision to drop both Pogba and Griezmann and go for Giroud and Sissoko and starting Benzema, their best player in their opening game, on the left, might have been a gamble at the start. But it was one that paid off as France registered another convincing win in Brazil.
The pace and the power of the French counter attack was too much to handle for the Swiss, whose defence was constantly broken down thanks to some lightning-quick counter attacks. Although Switzerland enjoyed almost 60% of the ball, it was the French who looked threatening every time they attacked. And they looked at their most deadly when they had just taken the ball off a Swiss player, whether from the attacking-third or inside their own penalty box from a corner kick.
Deschamps’ plan was to let the Swiss have the ball and hit them on the counter with the pace, power and trickery of his front three of Benzema, Giroud and Valbuena. And whilst Giroud held up the ball, Benzema and Valbuena made utmost use of it and it was Benzema who was once again France’s biggest threat going forward.
#2 France show that it isnt just a World Cup for upsets
One of the refreshing things about this World Cup has been the tendency of teams to attack. Not too many teams have sat back and defended so far and even unfancied teams have given it a go which has turned this into a World Cup of upsets so far. On the back of Italy’s surprise defeat to Costa Rica, France’s game between Switzerland was expected to be another one, with the higher-ranked Swiss expected to make life difficult for France.
After all, it was only logical. Although France won 3-0 in the first fixture, it was against Honduras. And even though the Swiss only won with a last-minute winner against Ecuador, they showed plenty of reasons why they could easily topple France.
In the end, it turned out to be nothing of that sort thanks to a 66-second blitz in the opening 20 minutes when France scored two and effectively knocked La Nati out of the game.
#3 Salvador is the place to be if you want goals
So far at least, the World Cup has been about two things – refereeing controversy and goals. Aside from the last minute of the game, when the referee blew his whistle before Benzema’s spectacular goal, there wasn’t any controversy in the game as such. But one thing the game did have was goals.
In this game, there were seven of them, to take the tally of goals at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador to 17 in just three games. A stunning average of 5.67 goals per game is the best of any World Cup stadium that has hosted at least three games.
Whether it its long footballing heritage or the stunning scenic beauty of the place, Salvador has thus far been a goal haven. With the stadium set to host a Round of 16 and a quarter-final game as well, expect lot more goals in the knock out stages.
#4 Expectations are rising for France
Coming into the World Cup, expectations weren’t too high back in France. This was a relatively young squad, with most of the players playing their first World Cup. And even before the start of the tournament, arguably their best player – Franck Ribery – was ruled out through injury. So it was fair to say that the French came into Brazil expecting little more than just getting out of the group.
But back-to-back victories, first over a hapless Honduras outfit and now over a highly-fancied Swiss side, means that expectations have slowly risen for Les Bleus. With France now poised to finish first and likely avoid Argentina in the second round, the stage is set to for them to exceed expectations and go far in the tournament.
It is not just the two victories, but the convincing manner in which they achieved them and the unity that is now present in their squad that make them one of the favourites to lift the World Cup.
#5 Where do the Swiss go from here?
After the game, Ottmar Hitzfeld neatly summed up the action when he said: “Benzema is in top condition. It was a bleak day [and] that quick double strike really broke us, but at least our goals at the end were good for morale. We still have high hopes of progressing.”
Although the Swiss defence was cut open far too often and far too easily, goals from Dzemaili and Xhaka were enough to ensure some respectability to the score line. The two goals were evidence that the Swiss hadn’t thrown in the towel, which is exactly what Hitzfeld would have wanted from his side when it became the clear that it wasn’t their day.
Even with this defeat, Switzerland are likely to go through, since their last game is against Honduras. But failure to get anything from this game means that they are likely to face Argentina in the next round. If they are to get anything out of that match, they will have to defend far better and hope that their attack, which has thus far scored twice in both games, clicks again.
