| Favorites Spain are p against a stolid Switzerland in a | | | | Switzerland are likely to try and counter Xavi using |
| group H at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on | | | | Benjamin Huggel to keep him in check. If Torres fails to |
| Wednesday. In 18 previous meetings between the | | | | start owing to injury, David Villa is likely to carry the |
| sides, Spain have won 15, with the others ending in | | | | onus of attack alone. |
| draws. The teams last met in 1994. | | | | In contrast, the Swiss are a defensive outfit. They |
| Spain will try to shed the tag of underperformers at | | | | have a motley crew of young and old players and are |
| this World Cup. In 2006, they flattered to deceive, and | | | | very assiduous on the field. Switzerland also had a |
| got out in the pre-quarter-final. In the interim, they won | | | | decent qualification run, winning a place in the World |
| the Euro 2008 championship and have since shown a | | | | Cup finals for the second time in succession. |
| calm maturity that was previously absent. | | | | Switzerland have an accomplished manager in Ottmar |
| European Champions Spain made a clean sweep of | | | | Hitzfeld who has led two different teams to the |
| 10 qualification matches. The Confederations Cup loss | | | | Champions League title. Hitzfeld.will be looking to |
| to USA has been the only disappointment for the | | | | Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta to score goals, |
| team since the Euro 2008 campaign. | | | | with Phillipe Senderos leading the defence. |
| Manager Vicente Del Bosque has a wealth of talent to | | | | Switzerland's Barnetta who excels in crosses from left |
| choose his Spanish team from. Their open game with | | | | of midfield will be up against Ramos of Spain, in |
| smooth passes and change of pace make Spain the | | | | another battle worth watching. Ramos is likely to have |
| team to watch. They are fluent with short and long | | | | the assistance of Capdevilla in defence. Hitzfeld |
| passes, and also excel in set play situations. | | | | might choose to have an additional midfielder to try |
| The in form David Villa is a prolific goal scorer and the | | | | and blunt Spain's attacking edge. |
| Swiss would want Arsenal's Senderos to mark Villa, | | | | Spain are likely to dominate this game with the ball in |
| and keep him quiet. Silva and Iniesta are pacy wingers | | | | their possession during most of the game's duration. |
| for Spain and the perfect foil for Xavi and Fabregas. | | | | For Switzerland, a draw would be the equivalent of a |
| Midfielder Xavi Spain's hero of Euro 2008 is likely to | | | | win. |
| orchestrate Spain's action by feeding Torres and Villa. | | | | |