Spain v. Switzerland 0-1 16/Jun/10

First Round, Second Game, Group H, Day 6. (16 of 64)


Offside? Certainly an idiotic defending.
[Photo: Getty Images via Daily Mail]


"The strange thing is though, that the more you look back on the Spain v Switzerland match, the less surprising the result appears" wrote Phil Ball when the shock of a first-game loss still surprises people around the globe when the all-conquering EURO Champions could not break the difficult deadlock that the World Cup debutant Ottmar Hitzfield built.

It seems that without the talismanic Alexander Frei the Swiss could make that no-goal stance into another landmark as they took that statistic to 484 minutes without conceding in the World Cup after the last goalless draw against Ukraine four years ago. Zonal Marking -the newest site for tactic junkies- has the final verdict: "Apologies to Switzerland fans, but the story here is not merely that the favourites were beaten, it’s that the favourites played absolutely awfully."

Throughout the game we saw some reminiscence of that last year's Confederations match against the US. It was effective defending, I think, rather than brilliant and we tend to forget what is effective in football since Barcelona has commanded us to do it. El País called them "too baroque"; I cannot agree more.



Fernandes going mental.
[Photo: Getty Images via Telegraph]


There appeared to be an urgent necessity for the Spanish team to go all the way forward and score with the first play. Of course it didn't happened as the match was in the good ol' list of stalemates at this World Cup. Xavi led some of his attacks as he pushed deeper with some through balls. Despite the effort and resistance from the "visitors" Piqué's position was wide off as he got to set Ramos on the right wing. The Madrid right-back played quick, escaped two defenders and shot wide in the 17th minute.

The match appeared more lively as in two minutes the clearer chances were made: for the Spaniards, Piqué took a shot as he found himself inside the box -Benaglio eventually saved it. The retaliation was on part of Ziegler, who had an opportunity with a freekick. It was a poor and weak effort as the EURO Champions began their full prowl for the victory. The siege was beginning to take some physical struggles and the EURO hosts as Senderos had to come out injured. The current panorama was dim in the light of a defeat.



Another shot of the goal.
[Photo: Mirror Football]


Again the Spanish got advantage of the full power of their offensive force, nonetheless, it was a lucky ball that gave the Swiss the lead. Derdiyok got a chance to go forward and eventually got pounded by Piqué. Then the Barcelona defender got back as Gelson found the ball and the series of strange and bizarre efforts from keeping the ball away on part of Casillas were worthless. The Swiss took the lead with an astonishing goal that was derived from the lack of positioning by the Spanish centre-halves.

Obviously after the stunners, Del Bosque ordered a full attacking deployment. Minutes later, with the substitutions being made, there were obviously some changes on the attacking order; Torres and Navas looked to bring some fresh legs onto the field. Despite the lack of form of the Liverpool man, the impact was immediate while Alonso could have equalised things when his shot went straight into the crossbar. When Iniesta came out injured, one could sense that feeling of dismay in the morale of the Spanish team.

The resilient defence was subject to heavy bombardment well into the last minutes. Three improvised centre-halves were not enough to stop the advances and the figure of Benaglio was vital for Hitzfield's aspirations. The urgency to put the ball in the box was countered with the calm of Switzerland's keeper to not play the ball.