2010 FIFA World Cup Results: Spain vs Switzerland

The most awaited game of the group stages in the 2010 FIFA World Cup finally came along, with whole world waiting to see what Spain was capable of.

The Spanish squad faced a Swiss side which was without its inspirational captain and striker Alexander Frei, due to an injury sustained during a warm up match. The Spanish lineup also did not feature Fernando Torres who was unable to prove his match fitness to find a place in the starting eleven, but did find himself on the bench.

Spain started the game in a very assertive manner. In the first 20 minutes, Spain had a whopping 77 percent of ball possession. The Swiss side looked very solid in defence and did not shy away from packing the box with players to resist all Spanish attacks.

Xavi and Alonso were at the heart of Spanish game play and dictated terms in midfield, while Iniesta and Silva penetrated the flanks, but David Villa hardly got a touch on the ball for most of the first half.

Spain created a few chances but nothing which looked aggressive enough to penetrate Swiss defence. Switzerland played well but received a big blow, when Senderos was replaced after 30-odd minutes due to a challenge he made on his own teammate.

The second half was a more fairly contested game with Switzerland finally showing their initiative to attack. This allowed Spain to be more aggressive in attack, making it a more open game. It was quite evident that a goal was coming but nobody could foresee that the Swiss would be the ones to score it.

Swiss defender Benaglio lifted the ball long into the Spanish half, and after some scrappy defending in the penalty area, that had Pique and Casillas going clumsy and all over the place, Gelson Fernandes found the back of the net in the midst of all the chaos and made it 1-0 to put Switzerland on top.

Del Bosque couldn’t resist and had to bring on Torres for a lackluster Silva, and also swapped Jesus Navas for Busquets. The changes made Spain more aggressive in shape and dominant in possession. Torres ran and worked hard but it was quite evident that he was still not match fit and his first touches were too heavy at times indicating that he hadn’t played too much of late.

No further pressure proved successful for Spain and the game ended 1-0 to the Swiss who should be given credit for holding on to the lead and beating the World Cup favorites.

Well, this is it for the inside story; stay connected for more updates on  2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup results, and match summaries.