Swiss within an ace of finals place
Saturday 10 October 2009
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An early Swiss onslaught paid dividends in Luxembourg (©Getty Images)
Switzerland are within sight of the FIFA World Cup finals after avenging their home defeat by Luxembourg in Group 2, and will qualify with a draw against Israel in Basel on Wednesday.
Early onslaught
Having suffered a humiliating 2-1 loss to Luxembourg in Zurich in September last year, the Swiss took the initiative from the off. Philippe Senderos struck twice in the first eight minutes and Benjamin Huggel finished the scoring midway through the first half. Greece's 5-2 win against Latvia later on Saturday kept Switzerland's lead at three points and delayed their passage to South Africa.
Set-piece opener
Even before they found the net, Switzerland showed plenty of menace with Huggel denied by Jonathan Joubert after being set up nicely by Tranquillo Barnetta. After six minutes, the Swiss did go ahead as Senderos rose above Jeff Strasser to head home a Johan Vonlanthen free-kick.
Second for Senderos
There was a touch of déjà vu about the second Swiss goal two minutes later. Barnetta swung in another dead ball, with Senderos once more getting the better of Strasser to beat Joubert. Huggel then benefited from some lackadaisical marking on 23 minutes after being given time and space to convert from an Alexander Frei corner, and from then on it was a no-contest.
Frei denied
After the interval, the pressure continued with Frei twice failing to beat Joubert from close range, with Luxembourg's best effort by far a Joël Kitenge header which forced Diego Benaglio to push the ball over the bar. Luxembourg's campaign will end in Greece on Wednesday, and should they avoid defeat, Switzerland will qualify even if they lose to Israel.
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