Swiss roll on into semis

Switzerland eased into the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championships with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Georgia today.

Winning streak
The victory extends Switzerland's winning streak in the tournament to four matches, after winning Group C with a 100 per cent record. Markus Frei's side immediately asserted their authority on the match when Slavisa Dugic's quick footwork carried him past two Georgian defenders before his clever chip sailed narrowly wide of the target.

Defensive formation
The Swiss were not at their best in the first half as they tried to unlock Koba Zhorzhikashvili's ultra-defensive 3-5-1 formation. Goran Antic and Sandro Bürki all missed early chances as Switzerland failed to make their overall dominance tell. At the other end, Georgia looked toothless in attack and were limited to sporadic counterattacks in a very physical first-half.

Bürki on target
Bürki then atoned for his earlier miss when his clinical finish left Kakhaber Jincharadze helpless seconds before the break.  Zhorzhikashvili pushed Gogi Pipia up alongside Sandro Iashvili at the start of the second period to add more firepower to the Georgian attack, but the Swiss rearguard never looked troubled.

Ziegler returns
Bürki then effectively sealed the victory when he spotted Jincharadze off his line and calmly lobbed the ball over the despairing keeper from 20 metres to give the Swiss a comfortable 2-0 lead. And six minutes from time Reto Ziegler, back in action after a shoulder injury, burst into the Georgian area to beat Jincharadze with ease.

'Only one team'
"Everything worked perfectly today and when I give an order my players really do everything they can to carry it out," said a satisfied Frei. "We got our first goal at a good time and from then on there was only one team playing. Until now we have led in all our matches and I sincerely hope we don't have to experience the opposite against England"."

'Missing players'
Zhorzhikashvili was unhappy with the result and said. "We were missing some of our best midfielders due to injury and we didn't have the necessary back-up to make up for that loss. However, we also played against a Swiss side playing like clockwork."