Switzerland

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Unexpected win thrills Hitzfeld

16 Jun 2010 - 19:00:59

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Ottmar Hitzfeld admitted his Switzerland team's 1-0 victory against World Cup favourites Spain had being completely unexpected.

The Swiss' dogged defensive display kept Spain at bay in a goalless first half but, in the 52nd minute, Gelson Fernandes slotted home the only goal of the game to earn Switzerland their first ever win over the Euro 2008 champions.

"I am fully aware that we have made history," said the former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich coach after the match. "This will go down in the record books.

"The three points are a gift that we happily accept. It is a great feeling to start the tournament with three points against one of the biggest contenders for the title. These were three very unexpected points for us.

"I was very satisfied with my team's performance. Our aim was to have two compact lines behind our strikers as we didn't want to lose too much energy fighting for the ball. We wanted to focus on our defence and wait for the counter-attack.

"We concentrated and were organised from the start. We didn't allow any chances for Spain in the first half and that gave us self-confidence.

"In the second half, Spain rolled one attack after another and we knew they would open their defence. After we took the lead, we gained even more confidence.

"If you play an attacking game against Spain you would lose by a big margin."