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Sunday June 15th - 10:00AM | ||
| vs | ECUADOR | ||
| FIFA RANKING 8 | FIFA RANKING 28 | ||
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| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
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| SWITZERLAND Switzerland secured their place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ on the penultimate qualifying matchday. However, it was far from plain sailing for Die Eidgenossen, who faced several setbacks along the way. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s ensemble raced to the group summit following opening victories over Slovenia and Albania, but dropped points for the first time in their next qualifying games. Hitzfeld's charges recorded a 1-1 draw with Norway and a 2-0 victory over Iceland before chalking up a draw and a win against Cyprus.Nerves got the better of Switzerland in their next game against Iceland, when they ended up drawing 4-4 after leading 4-1. There were no further slip-ups in their final outings though, with a 2-0 triumph over Norway all but ensuring their qualification for a third consecutive World Cup, before a 2-1 win over Albania sealed Switzerland’s Brazil 2014 ticket with a game to spare. ECUADOR Ecuador were plagued by inconsistency during their qualifying campaign. While La Tricolorwent undefeated at home, beating every opponent in Quito except Argentina, with whom they drew, the side was unable to reproduce that form on the road, failing to win at all and drawing just three times. Nevertheless, one such stalemate – against Uruguay in Montevideo – proved decisive as Ecuador finished level on points with La Celeste but grabbed the last automatic qualifying spot thanks to their superior goal difference (four compared to Uruguay’s zero). With a team that was among the top four in the standings on 14 of the 16 matchdays and that had to overcome the tragic death of Cristian Benitez, coach Reinaldo Rueda became the third Colombian to guide Ecuador to FIFA World Cup qualification. |
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RECENT RESULTS |
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| SWITZERLAND | ECUADOR | ||
| 15/10/13 - SWITZERLAND 1-0 SLOVENIA 11/10/13 - ALBANIA 1-2 SWITZERLAND 10/09/13 - NORWAY 0-2 SWITZERLAND |
11/10/13 - ECUADOR 1-0 URUGUAY 10/09/13 - BOLIVIA 1-1 ECUADOR 06/09/13 - COLOMBIA 1-0 ECUADOR |
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| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |||
| SWITZERLAND There is undoubted quality throughout the side, starting with keeper Diego Benaglio, a German championship winner in 2009 with VfL Wolfsburg. The combination of experienced players such as Tranquillo Barnetta, Gokhan Inler and Philippe Senderos, with highly-talented youngsters Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Schar, Granit Xhaka and Valentin Stocker, has borne fruit and the side are more than capable of making their mark at Brazil 2014. |
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| ECUADOR Wingers Antonio Valencia and Christian Noboa, as well as forwards Felipe Caicedo and Jefferson Montero, represent an exciting new wave for Ecuadorian football, but they are also ably assisted by a handful of evergreen stalwarts with European experience, such as Edison Mendez, Walter Ayovi and Segundo Castillo. |
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