World Cup 2014: France crush Switzerland 5-2, all but qualify for next round

June 21, 2014

France Switzerland

New Delhi/Salvador (Brazil), Jun 21: France are on the brink of reaching the World Cup last 16 after their emphatic 5-2 win over Switzerland on Friday kept them in control of Group E.

The French backed up their opening 3-0 win over Honduras by racing into a 2-0 lead as Olivier Giroud's 16th-minute header was followed by Blaise Matuidi's goal just 66 seconds later.

Diminutive right-winger Mathieu Valbuena put the result beyond doubt with France's third just before the break.

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema missed a first-half penalty, but then netted their fourth before Newcastle United's midfielder Moussa Sissoko also claimed a second-half goal.

Only the heroics of Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio prevented more French goals before Blerim Dzemaili and Granit Xhaka scored late consolation goals.

"This could have been more than perfect," said France coach Didier Deschamps, who indicated that the two late goals conceded was the only dampener.

"We were up against a good team and to score five goals and win 5-2, it was a very good evening."

"Six points after two matches is ideal. We have to wait for the next match but we have a good goal difference and the next match will decide first and second place."

France will have their last 16 qualification confirmed unless Ecuador beat Honduras later Friday in Curitiba.

The Swiss, who have not beaten France since 1992, may now need to beat Honduras next Wednesday to qualify for the last 16. They beat Ecuador 2-1 in their opener.

"I'm very disappointed by our defeat, it was a very bleak day for us," said Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

"The French were ice cold in taking their chances and they had excellent counter-attacks."

On the anniversary of their infamous strike at South Africa 2010, France put themselves amongst the World Cup favourites.

Salvador has now seen 17 goals in three World Cup matches - the most by far of Brazil's 12 venues - after the Netherlands routed Spain 5-1 here and Germany hammered Portugal 4-0 last Monday.

Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was forced into an early change when centre-back Steven von Bergen had to leave the field with a heavy cut over his left eye, Philippe Senderos replacing him.

Giroud, back in for Antoine Griezmann after spending most of the Honduras win on the bench, wasted little time in repaying Deschamps' faith for the opening goal.

He met Valbuena's floated corner and his looping header beat Benaglio despite the goalkeeper getting an outstretched glove to the ball.

It was France's 100th goal at World Cup finals.

The French doubled their lead 66 seconds later as Benzema snapped up a stray pass, charged into the Swiss half and put away Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Matuidi, who fired inside Benaglio's near post.

The Swiss came perilously close to pulling a goal back as a Xhaka strike was ruled offside, then Xherdan Shaqiri's shot flew across the French goal.

There was drama in the 31st minute when Swiss defender Johan Djourou was harshly adjudged to have fouled Benzema to give away a penalty, but his spot-kick was blocked by Benaglio and Cabaye's follow-up hit the crossbar.

France's third goal was textbook counter-attacking as Benzema claimed the ball after a Swiss corner and passe dto Rafael Varane who put Giroud into space on the left wing.

Without a defender near him, the Arsenal star sprinted away and squared for Valbuena at the far post to make it 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Benzema made up for his first-half penalty miss when he fired home replacement Paul Pogba's chip over the top midway through the second-half.

He then turned provider by putting Sissoko in space and the midfielder smashed his shot into the left-hand corner with 17 minutes remaining for France's fifth.

Dzemali finally got the hapless Swiss on the scoreboard when his freekick flew through the French wall nine minutes from time before Xhaka drilled home after a chip from Swiss captain Gokhan Inler.

Benzema put the ball in the net one more time but his "goal" came just a couple of seconds too late as the referee had already blown for full-time.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: BJP MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said that he will donate his two year's salary to PM-CARES Fund to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my 2 year's salary to #PMCaresFund. You should come forward too! @narendramodi @JPNadda @BJP4Delhi #IndiaFightsCorona," Gambhir tweeted.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1965 on Thursday after 131 people confirmed positive in the past 12 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 1764 COVID-19 active cases in the country and 50 people have died due to the lethal infection.

Interestingly, on this day in 2011, India lifted its second World Cup title after a drought of 28 years. Gambhir played a crucial role in the final and anchored the run-chase.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of former all-rounder Kapil Dev. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 25,2020

Karachi, May 25: Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes Babar Azam is destined to be a world-class player and is very close to being in the same league as India skipper Virat Kohli and Australia's Steve Smith.

"I don't like comparisons but Babar is currently very close to being in the same class as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith or Joe Root," Misbah said in an interview to Youtube channel, Cricket Baaz.

"He believes in the work ethic that if you want to better Kohli you have to work harder than him at your skills, fitness and game awareness."

The 25-year-old, who was named captain of the Pakistan T20 team ahead of the Australia series in October last year, was recently handed the reins of ODI team as well.

"Making him the T20 captain was a tester. We wanted to see how he will respond to this challenge. All of us agree that he has done a very good job and his biggest plus is that being among the worlds top players he leads by example," Misbah said.

"If you are a performer like Babar then it becomes easier for you to motivate the rest of the team and get things done.

"Even when I was made captain in 2010 my performances were here and there and I was in and out. But captaincy changed my game and mindset and I became a more hard-working and motivated cricketer."

Misbah said Babar always challenges himself and would get better as a captain with experience.

"He is in a zone of his own. He just doesn't want to be in the team. He just doesn't want to play for money. He wants to be the top performer for Pakistan. He is always pitting himself against other top batsmen like Kohli or Smith," he said.

"He loves challenges in the nets and on the field. He has really matured as a player and in time he will get better as a captain with experience."

Babar was the leading run-scorer of the T20I series against Australia last year. He also scored 210 runs, which included a hundred, at 52.50 in the Test series against the same opponents.

In the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka, Babar ended the series with 262 runs with an average of exactly 262.

Misbah feels Babar had changed as a batsman when he got runs in the Tests in Australia.

"Before that he was getting runs in tests but not consistently. In Australia and in the following tests against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he changed," he said.

Talking about his experience as a head coach, Misbah said: "Having captained, it has helped me a lot. As captain I had to manage everything and also having played under top coaches ... I have seen closely their work ethics and how they managed things.

"It is a learning process. Having remained captain it is a big advantage for coaching because you know the players and their mood swings. You know which player will respond in a given situation,which player is feeling pressure in a scenario.

Misbah said it is not easy juggling between different roles.

"Most important thing as a coach is mentally and psychologically how you handle a group of players," the former skipper said.

"Sometimes captain and coach is different as you have to take tough decisions. Being chief selector makes it it a bit difficult but I had experience of creating and managing teams, I have been building teams since 2003. Till now it is going well."

Misbah feels in Pakistan cricket there were different parameters for judging foreign and local coaches.

"I don't know why it is like this why do we have different eye for locals and foreigners. Maybe we feel they have something special. It looks like every decision by a foreign coach is right. In contrast we tend to be very critical of local coaches no matter what decision they take," he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.