Swiss delight as Nkufo ends Greece run

Swiss recovery
After conceding a last-gasp equaliser in Israel then losing at home to Luxembourg in September, Ottmar Hitzfeld's side looked to have a tough task in Group 2. But at the weekend they defeated Latvia 2-1 and they repeated that scoreline tonight against a Greece team previously on maximum points thanks to Blaise Nkufo's strike 13 minutes from time.

Frei penalty
Having moved on to nine points with Saturday's 3-0 win against Moldova at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Greece were hopeful of keeping up their run with the visit of Switzerland. But Hitzfeld's men produced a pressing game that troubled Greece from the start and, on 42 minutes, Switzerland were in front. Valon Behrami was brought down in the area by Avraam Papadopoulos and captain Alexander Frei made no mistake from the penalty spot to increase his national record goal tally to 37.

Nkufo winner
If Greece had not conceded before in this campaign, they registered their ninth goal of the group in the 69th minute, Angelos Charisteas turning in a cross from the left by substitute Giorgos Karagounis. However, eight minutes later, Nkufo found space on the left and cut in to slot a shot past Kostas Chalkias. Greece remain top of Group 2 only because Israel lost a late goal to draw in Latvia; a point separates those teams with Switzerland one more behind. Israel is Greece's next destination on 28 March, when Switzerland are in Moldova.