Brasillia played host to Switzerland and
Ecuador in the opening game of Group E in the Sunday sun.
Ecuador took a
surprise lead. Enner Valencia - who had recently scored against England in a
World Cup warm up game – scored for the South Americans. His header from close
range put his country in front after 22 minutes. The goal kickstarted the Swiss
team into action in search of an equaliser. Their red jerseys swarmed forward
looking to make the breakthrough, but the Ecuadorians held firm. Shaqiri
threatened for the Swiss side with his constant trickery, but overall
disappointed with his delivery on many occasions.
It wasn’t until
early in the second half that the Ecuadorians would concede. A corner found
Admir Mehmedi who headed home to draw the teams level. Switzerland continued to
threaten, their strong midfield of Shaqiri, Inler and Xhaxa over ran that of
the South Americans but they couldn't take advantage of their possession.
With Switzerland
searching for the winner Ecuador found space to counter attack but couldn’t make
the most of their opportunities. Manchester United winger and Ecuadorian
captain Antonio Valencia was completely anonymous in the game; it would be fair
to wonder if he even got a touch at all.
Switzerland thought
they’d gone ahead when a neat dummy from Shaqiri found Drmic who slotted it
past the Ecuador stopper only to find the officials had ruled it offside,
incorrectly. It looked as though we would have our first draw of the
competition.
But suddenly,
Ecuador were on the attack, Antonio Valencia (oh, he did play) found team-mate
Arroyo who progressed into the box with an excellent opportunity to shoot, but
ex-West Ham midfielder, Valon Behrami tackled the South American and set
Switzerland on the counter. Steaming forward like an express train Switzerland
turned a dangerous Ecuadorian attack into an attack of their own. Behrami was
taken down just inside his own half but managed to get up, and continue. The
referee played advantage and Behrami found a team-mate who sprayed it wide from
where a low cross was catapulted into the box. Severovic was at hand to bundle
it into the poor Ecuadorian’s goal in injury time of the second half. Severovic
only scored 4 goals for his club all season but scored a vital goal for his
country in the Brazilian capital. Heartbreak for Ecuador who will curse Arroyo’s
delay at the other end just seconds before. This victory, much like their flag, is a big
plus for Switzerland.
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| Switzerland's Severovic celebrates his injury time winner |
Switzerland 2 – 1 Ecuador 
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