Goalless draw sends Swiss out

Group H, 18:30 GMT, June 25, 2010
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa





Switzerland
0 - 0
Honduras

The dream is over for Switzerland in the World Cup after they failed to build on their superb victory against European champions Spain in their opening game.

Swiss Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld knew if his side achieved a two-goal win in this Group H match then they would progress to the second round, but they were toothless and had to settle for a point against Honduras, who are also going home after failing to find the target in the tournament.

Scoring Summary

Switzerland	Honduras

Match Stats

Switzerland

Honduras

17(5)	Shots (on Goal)	8(2)
12	Fouls	17
5	Corner Kicks	3
2	Offsides	9
56%	Time of Possession	44%
1	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0
2	Saves	5

Match Information

Stadium:	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Attendance:	28,042
Match Time:	18:30 GMT
Official(s):	Héctor Baldassi

Man of the Match: Edgar Alvarez

MATCH SUMMARY

Man of the Match: Edgar Alvarez - In a game short of quality, there were no genuine standout players, but Alvarez was lively and direct for Honduras on the right wing and could easily have provided a winner for the underdogs.

Switzerland verdict: Having shown they could soak up the pressure and sneak a goal against Spain, the pressure was on to show they could take the game to the opposition in this must-win game, but they were far too negative and lacked any sort of cutting edge. They improved slightly when Hakan Yakin was introduced to provide a decent ball into the box, but they lacked quality options to convert them.

Honduras verdict: They were always going to be playing for pride but, playing on the counter-attack, they looked the better team for much of the night. Edgar Alvarez and Ramon Nunez threatened to cause problems and they attacked at pace, but a lack of belief and poor final balls meant they were unable to clinch a shock win.

Could do better: Blaise Nkufo - The veteran Switzerland striker has been a consistent performer for his country but he failed to deliver when it really mattered. He looked cumbersome throughout the game, wasting a decent opening in the first half and generally failing to provide a threat, although the same charge could be levelled at many of his team-mates.

Stat attack: This was the first 0-0 draw for Honduras in their World Cup history. It was the third for the Swiss, with two coming in 2006.