Quarter-finals: France – Colombia – Belgium – Costa Rica
Round of 16: Chile – Uruguay – Mexico – Greece – Nigeria – Algeria – Switzerland – USA
A: Croatia – Cameroon B: Spain – Australia C: Ivory Coast – Japan D: Italy – England
E: Ecuador – Honduras F: Bosnia – Iran G: Portugal – Ghana H: Russia – South Korea
SWITZERLANDWorld Cup progress: Round of 16 Team rating: 7 Top scorer: Shaqiri (3) |
Two wins saw Switzerland through their group, but despite a battling performance, they were dramatically knocked out by Argentina in the Round of 16, writes Stephen Donovan.
Swiss edged out
Legendary German manager Ottmar Hitzfeld ended his career by leading his solid and in-form Swiss side at the World Cup, where they were drawn in Group E as top seeds.
Their campaign began in exciting fashion as they beat Ecuador with a stoppage time strike from Haris Seferovic, before they were taken apart by France in what was described as a ‘black day’ by Hitzfeld, as his normally reliable team defended uncharacteristically badly.
A superb hat-trick from star man Xherdan Shaqiri against Honduras was enough to send them through to the Round of 16, where they took on Argentina. A gutsy performance and some quality defending saw them deservedly take the fancied South American side into extra time, and they looked confident that they could pull off a huge shock, only for Angel Di Maria to roll home the winner in the dying minutes to send the Swiss crashing out.
The Coach – Ottmar Hitzfeld
In his final act as Switzerland boss, Hitzfeld used all of his experience to frustrate the Argentines, but his team weren’t able to see things through. He deserves credit for turning things around and helping his side recover from the France defeat, while his substitutions often made the desired impact.
Player of the Tournament – Xherdan Shaqiri
Bayern Munich star Xherdan Shaqiri is the one regular source of creativity in the Swiss side, and he showed just what he is capable of in Brazil, going on to score his country’s first hat-trick in a World Cup for 60 years. His first goal in particular against Honduras was something special.
Memorable moment
Haris Seferovic scored from the last attack of the game to give them a dramatic win over Ecuador in their opening match, sparking huge celebrations.
Results
| 15-Jun-14 | Switzerland | 2-1 | Ecuador | Group A |
| 20-Jun-14 | Switzerland | 2-5 | France | Group A |
| 25-Jun-14 | Honduras | 0-3 | Switzerland | Group A |
| Group E | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Ecuador | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Honduras | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 01-Jul-14 | Argentina | 1-0 | Switzerland | Round 16 |
| (aet) |
Squad
| No | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Assists |
| 1 | GK | Diego Benaglio | 4 | – | – |
| 2 | D | Stephan Lichtsteiner | 4 | – | 1 |
| 3 | D | Reto Ziegler | – | – | – |
| 4 | D | Philippe Senderos | 1 | – | – |
| 5 | D | Steve Von Bergen | 2 | – | – |
| 6 | D | Michael Lang | 1 | – | – |
| 7 | M | Tranquillo Barnetta | – | – | – |
| 8 | M | Gokhan Inler | 4 | – | 1 |
| 9 | A | Haris Seferovic | 4 | 1 | – |
| 10 | M | Granit Xhaka | 4 | 1 | – |
| 11 | M | Valon Behrami | 4 | – | – |
| 12 | GK | Yann Sommer | – | – | – |
| 13 | D | Ricardo Rodriguez | 4 | – | 2 |
| 14 | M | Valentin Stocker | 1 | – | – |
| 15 | M | Blerim Dzemaili | 3 | 1 | – |
| 16 | M | Gelson Fernandes | 1 | – | – |
| 17 | A | Mario Gavranovic | – | – | – |
| 18 | A | Admir Mehmedi | 4 | 1 | – |
| 19 | A | Josip Drmic | 4 | – | 2 |
| 20 | D | Johan Djourou | 4 | – | – |
| 21 | GK | Roman Buerki | – | – | – |
| 22 | D | Fabian Schar | 2 | – | – |
| 23 | M | Xherdan Shaqiri | 4 | 3 | – |
For a complete review of the 2014 World Cup, check out the next issue of Soccer Italia, written by the team at Football Italia and available on worldwide subscription.
|
SWITZERLANDWorld Cup progress: Round of 16 Team rating: 7 Top scorer: Shaqiri (3) |
Two wins saw Switzerland through their group, but despite a battling performance, they were dramatically knocked out by Argentina in the Round of 16, writes Stephen Donovan.
Swiss edged out
Legendary German manager Ottmar Hitzfeld ended his career by leading his solid and in-form Swiss side at the World Cup, where they were drawn in Group E as top seeds.
Their campaign began in exciting fashion as they beat Ecuador with a stoppage time strike from Haris Seferovic, before they were taken apart by France in what was described as a ‘black day’ by Hitzfeld, as his normally reliable team defended uncharacteristically badly.
A superb hat-trick from star man Xherdan Shaqiri against Honduras was enough to send them through to the Round of 16, where they took on Argentina. A gutsy performance and some quality defending saw them deservedly take the fancied South American side into extra time, and they looked confident that they could pull off a huge shock, only for Angel Di Maria to roll home the winner in the dying minutes to send the Swiss crashing out.
The Coach – Ottmar Hitzfeld
In his final act as Switzerland boss, Hitzfeld used all of his experience to frustrate the Argentines, but his team weren’t able to see things through. He deserves credit for turning things around and helping his side recover from the France defeat, while his substitutions often made the desired impact.
Player of the Tournament – Xherdan Shaqiri
Bayern Munich star Xherdan Shaqiri is the one regular source of creativity in the Swiss side, and he showed just what he is capable of in Brazil, going on to score his country’s first hat-trick in a World Cup for 60 years. His first goal in particular against Honduras was something special.
Memorable moment
Haris Seferovic scored from the last attack of the game to give them a dramatic win over Ecuador in their opening match, sparking huge celebrations.
Results
| 15-Jun-14 | Switzerland | 2-1 | Ecuador | Group A |
| 20-Jun-14 | Switzerland | 2-5 | France | Group A |
| 25-Jun-14 | Honduras | 0-3 | Switzerland | Group A |
| Group E | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Ecuador | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Honduras | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 01-Jul-14 | Argentina | 1-0 | Switzerland | Round 16 |
| (aet) |
Squad
| No | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Assists |
| 1 | GK | Diego Benaglio | 4 | – | – |
| 2 | D | Stephan Lichtsteiner | 4 | – | 1 |
| 3 | D | Reto Ziegler | – | – | – |
| 4 | D | Philippe Senderos | 1 | – | – |
| 5 | D | Steve Von Bergen | 2 | – | – |
| 6 | D | Michael Lang | 1 | – | – |
| 7 | M | Tranquillo Barnetta | – | – | – |
| 8 | M | Gokhan Inler | 4 | – | 1 |
| 9 | A | Haris Seferovic | 4 | 1 | – |
| 10 | M | Granit Xhaka | 4 | 1 | – |
| 11 | M | Valon Behrami | 4 | – | – |
| 12 | GK | Yann Sommer | – | – | – |
| 13 | D | Ricardo Rodriguez | 4 | – | 2 |
| 14 | M | Valentin Stocker | 1 | – | – |
| 15 | M | Blerim Dzemaili | 3 | 1 | – |
| 16 | M | Gelson Fernandes | 1 | – | – |
| 17 | A | Mario Gavranovic | – | – | – |
| 18 | A | Admir Mehmedi | 4 | 1 | – |
| 19 | A | Josip Drmic | 4 | – | 2 |
| 20 | D | Johan Djourou | 4 | – | – |
| 21 | GK | Roman Buerki | – | – | – |
| 22 | D | Fabian Schar | 2 | – | – |
| 23 | M | Xherdan Shaqiri | 4 | 3 | – |
For a complete review of the 2014 World Cup, check out the next issue of Soccer Italia, written by the team at Football Italia and available on worldwide subscription.
