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Thursday, June 17, 2010

Switzerland stun Spain



Gelson Fernandes' scrappy second-half goal gave Switzerland a shock 1-0 victory over World Cup favourites Spain

Man of the Match: Stephan Lichtsteiner
- The Lazio defender epitomised everything about this organised, outstanding Switzerland display. Throwing himself in front of everything - none more so than his excellent diving header to clear a corner in injury time - Lichtsteiner was a rock.

Spain verdict:
Without doubt Spain were brilliant, playing with style and the kind of attacking pace we have seldom seem so far at this World Cup. They would surely have won just about any other match. That doesn't change the result, one which puts them in serious danger of finishing no better than second in the group and a much-feared date with Brazil in the second round. Spain v Chile on the final group day now looks huge.

Switzerland verdict:
Yes, Spain were good, but Switzerland produced an outstanding defensive performance to keep out one of the most complete attacking line-ups in the World. The Swiss, with Honduras and Chile still to play, appear almost certain to go through now and after this display they will deserve it. Superb.

Could do better: David Villa.
He fluffed his lines in the first half and then seemed off the pace after that. While he is used to playing as the lone striker in international football, he looked lost at the Durban Stadium. The top scorer at Euro 2008 will have to find his scoring boots to dig Spain out of this hole.

Stat attack:
Spain created more chances on goal (24) without scoring than any other team in this World Cup.

Taken from soccernet.com

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