Switzerland caused the first upset of this summer's World Cup with victory over a Spain side that had been installed as favourites to win the tournament.
Switzerland caused the first upset of this summer's World Cup with a shock 1-0 victory against a Spain side that had been installed as the favourites to win the tournament.
Former Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzfeld organised the Swiss side superbly and, after a backs-to-the-wall first-half display, they grabbed the vital goal at the start of the second period when Gelson Fernandes capitalised on some poor Spanish defending to lash the ball home.
Both teams then went on to hit the woodwork as Switzerland held on to a victory that causes real doubt as to whether Spain will qualify from the group following Chile's impressive showing in their win against Honduras earlier in the day.
As expected Spain dominated possession from the outset, with Switzerland happy to soak up all the pressure and keep as many players behind the ball as possible.
Hitzfeld's tactics worked as Spain struggled to create many clear-cut chances with their first opportunity not arriving until the 25th minute when Gerard Pique made some space for himself before seeing his shot superbly kept out by Diego Benaglio.
In first-half stoppage time, Spain finally increased the tempo and, after David Villa played the ball wide to Andres Iniesta, the Barcelona man lofted a shot high into the stands behind the goal.
Villa then raced down the left, checked back and chipped the ball across goal and away from danger.
The second period began in a similar fashion, with Spain dominating possession but failing to break through a determined Switzerland defence.
However, in the 52nd minute, Hitzfeld's side suddenly broke forward. A long ball caused panic in the Spain defence and, after Iker Casillas and Pique had failed to deal with the danger, Fernandes lashed the loose ball home.
Spain looked stunned and struggled to respond for a while until Iniesta set up Villa whose curling effort was easily gathered by Benaglio.
Vicente del Bosque brought on Fernando Torres for the final third of the match and the change almost paid immediate dividends when Iniesta clipped a shot inches wide of the goal with Benaglio rooted to his spot.
The closest the Spaniards came to restoring parity came with 18 minutes left when a corner found its way to Xabi Alonso who blasted a thunderbolt from just outside the penalty area against the crossbar.
Just two minutes later though, Switzerland almost did the unthinkable and scored again. Eren Derdiyok embarked on an amazing run that saw him skip past several Spain defenders before clipping a shot past Casillas only to see it come back off the post and no one could force the ball home in the ensuing scramble.
Despite more than five minutes of stoppage time, Spain failed to grab an equaliser and now go into next Monday's game against Honduras desperate for a win to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Former Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzfeld organised the Swiss side superbly and, after a backs-to-the-wall first-half display, they grabbed the vital goal at the start of the second period when Gelson Fernandes capitalised on some poor Spanish defending to lash the ball home.
As expected Spain dominated possession from the outset, with Switzerland happy to soak up all the pressure and keep as many players behind the ball as possible.
Hitzfeld's tactics worked as Spain struggled to create many clear-cut chances with their first opportunity not arriving until the 25th minute when Gerard Pique made some space for himself before seeing his shot superbly kept out by Diego Benaglio.
Spain finally increased the tempo in first-half stoppage time and, after David Villa played the ball wide to Andres Iniesta, the Barcelona man lofted a shot high into the stands behind the goal.Villa then raced down the left, checked back and chipped the ball across goal and away from danger.
The second period began in a similar fashion, with Spain dominating possession but failing to break through a determined Switzerland defence.However, in the 52nd minute, Hitzfeld's side suddenly broke forward.
A long ball caused panic in the Spain defence and, after Iker Casillas and Pique had failed to deal with the danger, Fernandes lashed the loose ball home.
Spain looked stunned and struggled to respond until Iniesta set up Villa whose curling effort was easily gathered by Benaglio.
Vicente del Bosque brought on Fernando Torres for the final third of the match and the change almost paid immediate dividends when Iniesta clipped a shot inches wide of the goal with Benaglio rooted to his spot.
The closest the Spaniards came to restoring parity came with 18 minutes left when a corner found its way to Xabi Alonso who blasted a thunderbolt from just outside the penalty area against the crossbar. Just two minutes later though, Switzerland almost did the unthinkable and scored again.
Eren Derdiyok embarked on an amazing run that saw him skip past several Spain defenders before clipping a shot past Casillas only to see it come back off the post and no one could force the ball home in the ensuing scramble.
Despite more than five minutes of stoppage time, Spain failed to grab an equaliser and now go into next Monday's game against Honduras desperate for a win to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
