Switzerland beat Spain. No, this was not the Wimbledon final, neither was it Federer against Nadal. This was the last of the first round of matches at the FIFA WC’10. After a dissapointing first round of matches (except for Germany), much was expected from the Euro champions. They started of brightly and almost won a penalty when Silva was brought down by surprise-surprise Senderos in the box but the refereee waved play-on. In the 17th minute, it was the Valencia winger again who tested the Swiss goalie Benaglio with the first shot of the game. Gerard Pique almost put Spain ahead on the 24th minute, but Benaglio was to the Swiss rescue again as the men in red had the Swiss camped in their own half. Spain, who had won 27 of their last 28 matches were growing in confidence and it looked just a matter of time before Banglio would pick the ball from the back of his net. Switzerland, somehow, managed to get to half time unscathed and the score was 0-0.
Swiss Fans
In the 53rd minute the unimagineable happened. Benaglio launched a goal kick into Spain’s Penalty box. Spain failed to deal with it and Iker Casillas came running out to deny Eren Derdiyok. But the ball fell kindly to the former Everton midfielder, Fernandes who made no mistake from close range. Spain then spurned a lot of chances with Iniesta, Villa, Navas, Silva and Torres, all coming close. In the 73 minute, Spain played a short corner to Xabi Alonso. The Real Madrid mid fielder took a couple of steps and released a thunderbolt which seemed to be destined to the top corner. His shot rattled the underside of woodwork and luckily for the Swiss Goalie, who could barely move before the ball hit the crossbar, the ball did not creep in. In the 76th min, it was the Swiss’ turn to hit the post, when Derdiyok twisted and turned past the Catalan defence of Pique and Puyol. His toe-poke left Casillas stranded, but the ball came out after hitting the upright. It was end to end stuff now, with the Swiss looking to catch Spain on the break. The Swiss midfield, led by their skipper Inler Gokhan worked hard and denied space and time to their much-fancied opponents. Torres had a couple of good chances, but he looked very rusty and failed to hit the target. When Xavi missed a volley in the added time, it just about summed up the Spanish display. The referee blew the whistle to mark the first upset of FIFA WC’10. Spain won the battles but Switzerland won the war. Spain had technically better players, but the Swiss outsmarted Spain tactically.
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