Saturday, June 26, 2010

Swiss eliminated after disappointing draw


Switzerland 0-0 Honduras

MATCH SUMMARY

# Man of the Match: Edgar Alvarez - In a game short of quality, there were no genuine standout players, but Alvarez was lively and direct for Honduras on the right wing and could easily have provided a winner for the underdogs.
Note: Official MOM - Noel Valladares

# Switzerland verdict: Having shown they could soak up the pressure and sneak a goal against Spain, the pressure was on to show they could take the game to the opposition in this must-win game, but they were far too negative and lacked any sort of cutting edge. They improved slightly when Hakan Yakin was introduced to provide a decent ball into the box, but they lacked quality options to convert them.

# Honduras verdict: They were always going to be playing for pride but, playing on the counter-attack, they looked the better team for much of the night. Edgar Alvarez and Ramon Nunez threatened to cause problems and they attacked at pace, but a lack of belief and poor final balls meant they were unable to clinch a shock win.

# Could do better: Blaise Nkufo - The veteran Switzerland striker has been a consistent performer for his country but he failed to deliver when it really mattered. He looked cumbersome throughout the game, wasting a decent opening in the first half and generally failing to provide a threat, although the same charge could be levelled at many of his team-mates.

# Stat attack: This was the first 0-0 draw for Honduras in their World Cup history. It was the third for the Swiss, with two coming in 2006.

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