Bulgaria scores in the 9'. No stream so I do not know what happened. From what I have been able to find it was off a corner. This would kill off any hopes that the Swiss have left.
several little mistakes... Petrov goes past Djourou, Senderos has to save in corner... derdiyok doesn't manage to win the header and Ivanov slips in between Senderos and Ziegler after Benaglios safe and scores it
1-1 at HT Shaqiri at 45th + 3' Switzerland attacking all the time, but nothing really compelling best: good flanks by Lichtsteiner, good will worst: too many balls lost due to bad passes, bad control. Especially Inler has lost quite a lot of balls. they absolutely have to want to win this one and keep the concentration to a maximum. it's mainly a mental match. Come on!
of course, nice hattrick by Shaqiri, but unnecessary yellow card. Now he has to be careful vs Wales not to get a second one. Mehmedi better after he changed positions with Xhaka. Mehmedi was a bit lost on the left side. Xhaka had less impulse than Mehmedi in the central position. Vitkieviez could have taken the left part in absence of Barnetta and Stocker. Inler won a lot of balls, but also lost a lot. But he was important with his presence. Derdiyok also lost a few balls, but also fighting well and with a nice assist and more present in second half than in first half. Lichtsteiner very good on the right and with dangerous crosses. Ziegler fighting well on the left side and making good rushes, but his crosses often landed in the feet of the defense. This has to be improved. Also, he should change a bit between high and low crosses as his crosses are always flat. The central defense was good with the exception of the goal received. And they had some good passes forward. Benaglio did not have much work. Dzemaili had a good match.
Far better to score a hat-trick and get a yellow as compared with no goals and a red for Frei and/or Streller for spitting/elbowing. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Aside from that, there's still a chance of Euro 2012 qualification.
Swiss 1954 World Cup star Robert Ballaman dies http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-obit-ballaman Sad day for the Swiss national team. Ballaman was a great player during the 1950s, the 54 World Cup was his most noteworthy moment, but he had a very good career.
Squad for last two matches: Squad: Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Johnny Leoni (FC Zurich), Marco Woelfli (Young Boys) Defenders: Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Johann Djourou (Arsenal), Philippe Senderos (Fulham), Steve Von Bergen (Cesena), Timm Klose (Nuremberg), Reto Ziegler (Fenerbahce), Ricardo Rodriguez (FC Zurich) Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Fiorentina), David Degen (Young Boys), Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Gelson Fernandes (Leicester), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Fabian Frei (FC Basel), Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel) Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen), Innocent Emeghara (Lorient), Granit Xhaka (FC Basel), Admir Mehmedi (Zurich) I wonder why no Kasami. He is playing well at the moment. Danny Gabbidon and Rob Earnshaw will both be out for Wales. Here is the Welsh squad: Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Boaz Myhill (West Bromwich Albion - on loan at Birmingham City) Defenders: Darcy Blake (Cardiff City), Danny Collins (Stoke City - loan at Ipswich Town), James Collins (Aston Villa), Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest), Adam Matthews (Celtic), Neil Taylor (Swansea City), Ashley Williams (Swansea City) Midfielders: Joe Allen (Swansea City), Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Collison (West Ham United), Andrew Crofts (Norwich City), David Edwards (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Andy King (Leicester City), Joe Ledley (Celtic), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Hal Robson-Kanu (Reading), David Vaughan (Sunderland) Forwards: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Simon Church (Reading), Steve Morison (Norwich City), Sam Vokes (Wolverhampton Wanderers). Stand-by list: Lewis Price (Crystal Palace), Neal Eardley (Blackpool), Lewin Nyatanga (Bristol City), Ashley Richards (Swansea City), Rhoys Wiggins (Charlton Athletic), David Cotterill (Swansea City), Andy Dorman (Crystal Palace), Jonathan Williams (Crystal Palace), Jermaine Easter (Crystal Palace), Ched Evans (Sheffield United) The Swiss need 6 points out of this and some help. In theory the Swiss could advance with 4 points, but 6 would be much better. Montenegro has home vs England and at CH. They could loose both of these. If they drew both, the Swiss could not eclipse them. First thing is first, the Swiss really need to defeat Wales.
notable: Klose and Rodriguez, they need a few official minutes with the swiss team to start next should be Kasami and Seferovic for Kasami, he could play on the left wing. And most of the midfielders in the team are rather right wings. maybe Frei will be on the left
Dzemaili misses out due to inury, Hitzfeld not calling up a replacement. Surely Behrami must partner Inler in midfield? With his defensive strength and lungs it will give Inler more oppurtunities in attack. Who will replace Djourou vs Wales? Klose has made a great start in Germany while Von Bergen has got the experience.
I say Hitzfeld goes with Von Bergen. I am not sure it is the best choice, but it is the one with more stability.
Looks like we have lost both Feltscher brothers to Venezuela. Not a major loss right now - but nevertheless a bit disappointing. They are both still young so it's hard to say how they will turn out. Hope we don't look back at this moment in the future.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12018_7220112,00.html James Collins, Joe Ledley, and Danny Williams are out for Wales.
Where to start... The team has been flirting with qualifying failure for a while now, several years I would say. Not sure we would reached South Africa with a tougher group and the pre-Euro 2008 squad was also hardly convincing. We managed then and we could have managed again now. To me that is the most infuriating aspect of this exit. This was hardly a difficult group and after getting a lifeline from Wales in the last round they really should have secured second in this group. What a wasted opportunity. We again got lucky in the 2014 draw but can't take it for granted.
FT: 2-0 over Montenegro. Exactly the score required if only a draw would have been achieved in Swansea.
at least and at last, a well deserved victory vs Montenegro. Lichtsteiner had his first NT goal. we should have scored one or two more goals with Mehmedi or Shaqiri very good match by Rodriguez as well Shaqiri is reporedly targeted by 5 of the 6 top teams in England. Only Chelsea wasn't named, but Di Matteo was at St.Jakob Park. Hopefully Shaqiri finishes the season in Basel, tough the next matches in November are vs Netherlands and probably Luxembourg. Then at the begining of next year, Argentina ... no Euro, but the Olympics hopefully with as many top players as possible.