Brazil 2014 - Switzerland vs Ecuador
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Football Index:
World Cup Finals:
Brazil 2014: Switzerland vs Ecuador.
1st Round Matches at Brazil 2014.
Sunday, 15th June
Group Match - Mehmedi The Remedy
Switzerland vs 
Ecuador
in Brasilia.
Match Preview
Switzerland and Ecuador have never met before in international football competition.
FIFA's ranking of Switzerland as a top seed surprised many, so let's see if they can live up to the billing.
The Match
The 2014 World Cup party finally arrived in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.
Xherdan Shaqiri produced Switzerland's first real shot on goal in the 15th minute, while Ecuador still needed to judge the weight of their long cross balls better.
0:1
After not conceding at all from a set-piece during qualifying, Switzerland gave away a
needless free-kick left of the box. A wonderful delivery from Walter Ayovi allowed Enner
Valencia, the scorer against Roy Hodgson's England in Miami, the time and space to head
down onto the ground and under Diego Benaglio's outstretched hand.
Switzerland tried to put short passes together around the Ecuadorian area but failed to penetrate the defence. Then Gokhan Inler tried a longer range strike from the left, that Alexander Dominguez tipped past the post.
Ecuador continued to sit back and soak up the pressure, while Switzerland struggled to make the crosses count; from either side.
Half-time: Switzerland 0 - Ecuador 1
1:1
An astute tactical move by Ottmar Hitzfeld to replace the ineffective Valentin Stocker
with Admir Mehmedi at half-time paid dividends immediately; as the Freiburg striker headed
Switzerland level, from a Ricardo Rodriguez corner.
Switzerland had a goal disallowed for offside in the 70th minute. Another controversial decision, as the ball came off a defender.
With four minutes left on the clock, Diego Benaglio had to make a reactionary change of direction save, from a free-kick that defied the wall.
2:1
Both teams seemed content to settle for the draw and the fans started booing. Then
Switzerland threw away the script and broke forward in the last minute of stoppage time.
The Uzbek referee played the advantage and let Behrami, who rose to his feet quickly,
stride forward and pass the ball out to Ricardo Rodriguez to provide the assist for
Switzerland's second substitute, Haris Seferovic.
Just justice for the earlier disallowed goal.
Final Score: Switzerland 2 - Ecuador 1
Goalscorers:
0:1 - Enner Valencia (22 mins)
1:1 - Admir Mehmedi (48 mins)
2:1 - Haris Seferovic (90 +3mins)
Teams
Switzerland:
1-Diego Benaglio; 2-Stephan Lichtsteiner, 20-Johan Djourou, 5-Steve von Bergen, 13-Ricardo
Rodriguez; 11-Valon Behrami, 8-Gokhan Inler, 23-Xherdan Shaqiri, 10-Granit Xhaka;
14-Valentin Stocker, 19-Josip Drmic.
Ecuador:
22-Alexander Dominguez; 4-Juan Carlos Paredes, 3-Frickson Erazo, 2-Jorge Guagua, 10-Walter
Ayovi; 16- Antonio Valencia, 23-Carlos Gruezo, 6-Christian Noboa, 7-Jefferson Montero;
11-Felipe Caicedo, 13-Enner Valencia.
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov - Uzbekistan 
2 yellow cards:
52 mins - Juan Carlos Paredes (Ecuador)
83 mins - Johan Djourou (Switzerland)
The Road to Rio
First Round
Thursday, 12th June
Brazil vs Croatia
Friday, 13th June
Chile vs Australia
Mexico vs Cameroon
Spain vs Netherlands
Saturday, 14th June
Colombia vs Greece
Côte d'Ivoire vs Japan
England vs Italy
Uruguay vs Costa Rica
Sunday, 15th June
Argentina vs Bosnia
France vs Honduras
Switzerland vs Ecuador
Monday, 16th June
Germany vs Portugal
Ghana vs USA
Iran vs Nigeria
Tuesday, 17th June
Belgium vs Algeria
Brazil vs Mexico
Russia vs South Korea
Wednesday, 18th June
Australia vs Netherlands
Cameroon vs Croatia
Spain vs Chile
Thursday, 19th June
Colombia vs Côte d'Ivoire
Japan vs Greece
Uruguay vs England
Friday, 20th June
Honduras vs Ecuador
Italy vs Costa Rica
Switzerland vs France
Saturday, 21st June
Argentina vs Iran
Germany vs Ghana
Nigeria vs Bosnia
Sunday, 22nd June
Belgium vs Russia
South Korea vs Algeria
USA vs Portugal
Monday, 23rd June
Australia vs Spain
Cameroon vs Brazil
Croatia vs Mexico
Netherlands vs Chile
Tuesday, 24th June
Costa Rica vs England
Greece vs Côte d'Ivoire
Italy vs Uruguay
Japan vs Colombia
Wednesday, 25th June
Bosnia vs Iran
Ecuador vs France
Honduras vs Switzerland
Nigeria vs Argentina
Thursday, 26th June
Algeria vs Russia
Portugal vs Ghana
South Korea vs Belgium
USA vs Germany
2014 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
World Cup Finals
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2)
on July 30th, 1930.
Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy
for the home fans.
France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.
Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.
Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.
Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.
England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.
W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.
Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany,
they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.
Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.
Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.
Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.
USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.
France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.
Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.
Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening
match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the
semi-finals.
South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.
Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.
Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.
Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.
United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of
Morocco.
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