| This match scheduled to be held in Port Elizabeth on | | | | Defenders Stephane Grichting and Stephan |
| Monday will see the winner assured of advancing to | | | | Lichtsteiner kept the Spain forwards on a tight leash. |
| the next round. | | | | Against Chile, however, Switzerland will be better |
| Football is a funny old game. Nobody expected | | | | served by an attacking game plan, and the team |
| Switzerland to have any chance at all against Spain. | | | | should try to get more ball possession in their favour. |
| Yet they won, beating the tournament favourites. Chile | | | | But there's no denying that an organized defence and |
| were expected to win against Honduras and they did, | | | | discipline on the field is Switzerland's mantra, and they |
| though they should have done so by a bigger margin, | | | | are unlikely to give up their core strength in a hurry. |
| but for the intervention of Honduras goalkeeper, Noel | | | | Apart from Alexis Sanchez, the Switzerland player to |
| Valladares. | | | | watch would be Eren Derdiyok, who set up the first |
| Against Honduras, coach Marcelo Bielsa opted for | | | | goal against Spain and beat the Spanish defence to |
| three strikers, an attack strategy that served his team | | | | have a goal-bound shot rebound off the post. |
| well, in the qualifiers. It worked like a charm with | | | | Bielsa will rely on three strikers to keep the Swiss |
| Honduras not getting a sniff of the Chilean goal in the | | | | defensive line up on their toes. Fernandez will lead the |
| first third. And but for some shoddy finishing, Chile | | | | midfield with support from wingers Rodrigo Miller and |
| should have got more than the solitary strike they did. | | | | Gary Medel. Carlos Carmona will give midfield |
| Winger Alexis Sanchez, 21, had a field day, as did | | | | protection to the 3 defenders. |
| Mauricio Isla who combined well with Sanchez. | | | | For Switzerland, Steve Von Bergen should be in the |
| Midfielder Matias Fernandez provided creative | | | | starting line up, in place of Philippe Senderos, whose |
| inspiration, excelling himself in the last third. | | | | injury saw Bergen shine as a substitute in the Spain |
| Bielsa will not change his aggressive game plan against | | | | game. Ottfield will expect Tranquillo Barnetta to have |
| a very different team, in Switzerland. | | | | greater influence in this match than he did against |
| Switzerland played to a defensive game plan against | | | | Spain. Derdiyok, Benjamin Huggel and Nkufo are also |
| Spain, bottling up the Spanish strikers, and relying on | | | | expected to do their turn. |
| counter-attacks. Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio was | | | | Chile are a refreshing change with their attacking |
| outstanding. | | | | mindset and flamboyance at a time when most teams |
| Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld missed Alexander | | | | play without much imagination, and wait to benefit from |
| Frei, absent owing to an ankle injury. Blaise Nkufo was | | | | the mistakes of their rivals. Lightning doesn't strike |
| the spearhead with assistance from Eren Derdiyok, | | | | twice in the same place. Switzerland are unlikely to get |
| who was exceptional. | | | | away, this time. |