Swiss upset Spain in their opening encounter

Durban: Fifa 2010 saw its first shocker as Switzerland scraped an unlikely victory against one of the tournament favorites Spain 1-0 through Gelson Fernandes's goal in the group H match at Durban.

Fernandes scored the only goal of the match that separated the two teams at the end of 90 minutes plus extra time.

At the start of match, Spain looked positive and began to take the stride knocking the ball around. The mid-field as expected were making immaculate passes and not letting much possession to the Swiss players.
In the 10th minute Silva and Villa played refreshing one touches to barge ahead but Villa lost control in the last minute for the Swiss keeper to collect the ball.

The quality of their passing was exemplary as expected. With 77 per cent possession in the first 13 minutes la furia roja never let the Swiss team to sniff through. A cat and mouse game as Spain continued to roll on with the ball and look for space to make the breakthrough.

Silva finally got the first shot of the match in the 17th minute but his shot was comfortably held by the goal keeper and Sergio Ramos tried an ambitious shot in the following minute but his effort was off the target.
Swiss team could hardly get any possession and the team was under pressure.

In the 24th minute Gerard Pique got the best chance of the first half, when he made a smart turn away from the defender to hit a shot at goal but his effort was saved by the Swiss goal keeper.

In the 25th minute the Swiss team got a free kick which was hit on target, their first attempt on goal as Cassilas collected the ball.

In the 30th minute Iniesta got a quick ball from Silva and he was taken down by the defender to concede a free kick to Spain in a promising position just outside the D-box.
David Villa took the free kick but his kick was directed straight to the Swiss wall lined up ahead of him which managed to deflect away for corner.

Meanwhile, Swiss suffered a major blow when Philippe Senderos was substituted in the 36th minute because of his injury.

The Spanish defense looked solid as well, not letting any space to excite the Swiss strikers.

Most of the play was in the Swiss half of the field as Spain continued to press on for the opening goal.

In the closing stages of the first half Spain came close once again with Iniesta getting a chance to make a shot but his shot was rather to wide. In the last minute, Iniesta once again involved and played a superb through ball for David Villa, but Villa couldn't convert the good effort to goal.

So the first half ended with both teams goalless.

As the second half got started Spain straight away started in an attacking flow, getting a corner but once again a shot from Xavi Alonso was way off target.

For that phase of time the Swiss were struggling and fighting to get the ball away.

In the 50th minute Alonso once again hit a long range shot from the right side but his shot was deflected off the defender over the bar.

In the 53rd minute Spain got a shocker as Gelson Fernandes the scored goal from nowhere while the Spanish defense was caught flat-footed. On the process Pique got a cut in his head and Spain one goal down.

A sense of disbelief amongst the crowd in Durban as Spain had dominated almost the whole game.

With one goal down, Spain were on search for the equalizer but they were unable to find the goal.

In the 63rd minute, after Torres came in as substitute for La furia Roja, the Spanish side got a good chance once again as Iniesta hit a shot, but his effort was just wide off the target.

In the 68th minute Torres got a golden chance but his shot was once again off the target. David Villa on that occasion put a superb ball for his fellow striking partner.

In the 70th minute Spain came closest as Xavi Alonso hit a thunderous shot only to be denied by the crossbar as Spain was left frustrated going after the equalizer with time running out.

In the 72nd minute Navas drove a shot after a good ball from Xavi but his shot was once again denied, this time by the goal keeper.

Swiss almost scored their another goal in the 74th minute as Eren Derdiyok beat the Spanish defense including the keeper but his effort was denied by the side bar. The Spanish side pressing for goal were looking vulnerable in defense.

Navas hit a powerful shot in the 79th minute from long range just off target.

The Spanish crowd looked all desperate as time was running out for the Spanish players. Vicente Del Bosque's kept fighting till the end of 90 minutes and extra time putting the ball in the
Swiss D-area time and again but was unable to find the equalizer as time ran out.

With this win the Swiss team registered their first win against Spain at senior international level.


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