2010 World Cup: Chile v Switzerland full time report
Chile 1 Switzerland 0
Mark Gonzalez gave Chile a well-deserved three points against Switzerland at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
The CSKA Moscow winger got onto the end of Esteban Paredes’ cross after Paredes rounded keeper Diego Benaglio 15 minutes from time. Gonzalez headed the ball into the ground beyond the reach of defender Stephan Lichtsteiner to give his side maximum points from two games.
Switzerland approached the game in the same way as they did against Spain, putting 10 men behind the ball and playing on the counter attack, trying to nullify the Chilean’s quick style of play.
The Swiss became even more defensive when they were reduced to 10 men on 30 minutes. Valon Behrami received a straight red card after swinging an arm at Arturo Vidal, although the contact was not in the face as the Chilean player was indicating. Rather like Kaka for Brazil last night, Vidal exaggerated, prompting the Saudi Arabian referee Khalil Al-Ghamdi to produce the red.
The referee didn’t have one of his best games, brandishing yellow cards like confetti and putting whistle-to-mouth as quickly as possible, making the match a very scrappy affair.
The players didn’t help the referee either, with Vidal making a meal of being hit, while Steve Von Bergen, a big strapping centre-half, went down like a sack of potatoes after being hit in the chest and not in the face.
Once Switzerland were a man light, it was all Chile, and it would become a matter of how many they could score. As Switzerland came out needing a goal towards the end of the match, Chile hit them on the break. Gonzalez had the chance to seal the game, but he shot straight at the keeper.
Parades missed the best chance to wrap up the match. When he should have squared to a teammate, he went for goal himself, but put the ball horribly wide. You could sense that a Switzerland chance was going to come.
Despite all of Chile’s dominance, Switzerland might well have taken an undeserved point. Eren Derdiyok was presented with an absolute gift, but he missed, leaving his manager Ottmar Hitzfeld livid on the touchline. That was the chance for the Swiss, but one they couldn’t take.
One thing the Swiss did take from the game was a World Cup record on 67 minutes, as they became the nation to go on the longest run without conceding a goal at the World Cup, and that was to Spain in 1994.
Chile are now on six points and top of Group H, while Switzerland will be left reeling from the referee’s decision to give the red card to Behrami.
Chile wanted to score the goals, and on the balance of play were the better team.
Tags: