Favorites Spain are p against a stolid Switzerland in a group H at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Wednesday. In 18 previous meetings between the sides, Spain have won 15, with the others ending in draws. The teams last met in 1994.
Spain will try to shed the tag of underperformers at this World Cup. In 2006, they flattered to deceive, and got out in the pre-quarter-final. In the interim, they won the Euro 2008 championship and have since shown a calm maturity that was previously absent.
European Champions Spain made a clean sweep of 10 qualification matches. The Confederations Cup loss to USA has been the only disappointment for the team since the Euro 2008 campaign.
Manager Vicente Del Bosque has a wealth of talent to choose his Spanish team from. Their open game with smooth passes and change of pace make Spain the team to watch. They are fluent with short and long passes, and also excel in set play situations.
The in form David Villa is a prolific goal scorer and the Swiss would want Arsenal's Senderos to mark Villa, and keep him quiet. Silva and Iniesta are pacy wingers for Spain and the perfect foil for Xavi and Fabregas. Midfielder Xavi Spain's hero of Euro 2008 is likely to orchestrate Spain's action by feeding Torres and Villa. Switzerland are likely to try and counter Xavi using Benjamin Huggel to keep him in check. If Torres fails to start owing to injury, David Villa is likely to carry the onus of attack alone.
In contrast, the Swiss are a defensive outfit. They have a motley crew of young and old players and are very assiduous on the field. Switzerland also had a decent qualification run, winning a place in the World Cup finals for the second time in succession.
Switzerland have an accomplished manager in Ottmar Hitzfeld who has led two different teams to the Champions League title. Hitzfeld.will be looking to Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta to score goals, with Phillipe Senderos leading the defence. Switzerland's Barnetta who excels in crosses from left of midfield will be up against Ramos of Spain, in another battle worth watching. Ramos is likely to have the assistance of Capdevilla in defence. Hitzfeld might choose to have an additional midfielder to try and blunt Spain's attacking edge.
Spain are likely to dominate this game with the ball in their possession during most of the game's duration. For Switzerland, a draw would be the equivalent of a win.
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