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Switzerland vs Honduras
An already-eliminated Honduras practically laid down against Switzerland in the final round of matches in Group E, as Switzerland cruised to a 3-0 victory. The Swiss knew a victory would go a long way to get them into the knockout stage with Ecuador facing a hot French team.
Switzerland was coming off a 2-5 drubbing against Les Bleus last week. They regained form here in a big way, though, with Xherdan Shaqiri netting a hat-trick, the second of the tournament (Thomas Muller has the other).
It didn’t take long for the Swiss to pounce on the Hondurans. Shaqiri's first goal was an absolute beaut as he ripped a left-footed shot from 23 feet into the upper corner.
Teams that are already eliminated can do one of two things. They will either bring their best, hoping to enjoy their final moments of the tournament or lay down and take the wary flight home. In the first half Honduras chose the latter, as they looked low in quality throughout the first 45 minutes. Shaqiri netted his second easily on this counter in the 31’.
The rest of the match started to pick up as Honduras controlled possession. The halftime break did the Hondurans well, as they actually started to create some chances. But it was this type of World Cup for the CONCACAF members. Why he chose to use his head, we don't know:
Switzerland got another from Shaqiri and with Ecuador down to ten men against France, the Swiss were as good as in the knockout stage.
Next up for the Swiss is Lionel Messi and World Cup contenders Argentina. The young Swiss squad has shown inconsistency in all three of their matches and will have their hands full. Argentina has won every match by one goal, but have shown their weaknesses. In each of their games their opponent hasn't been completely out of the match, they have always been right their to steal a victory. The last time the Swiss faced a side with this many weapons was against France, and that didn’t end well. Next Tuesday Switzerland will need to defend with their greatest ability as they will surely lose the possession battle. Aside from Lionel Messi and some creativity from Angel di Maria in the midfield, no one from Argentina has shown their best form. The Swiss will need to take advantage of their few opportunities, especially when they earn set pieces.
Ecuador vs France
Entering the match against Ecuador, France were pretty much guaranteed to finish first in the group. With that said, Ecuador needed a victory to reach the Round of 16.
The first 40 minutes of the match though it seemed as if France was the team that need the victory to secure a place in the next round of the tournament. Ecuador seemed perfectly content defending and taking their chances only when they presented themselves. Then Enner Valencia almost cashed in on the opportunity the South Americans were waiting for.
The second half started with a fantastic chance by France, but goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez's reflex save denied Moussa Sissoko attempt. Then disaster struck for Ecuador as Antonio Valencia made this tackle that earned him a red card. Valencia didn’t even argue the decision has his cleat carelessly found the shin of Lucas Digne.
At this point Ecuador was doomed. Already struggling to create any build or chances around the box, they were now down a man against a team that was just better than they were. France continued pressuring and had a plethora of chances, but Domínguez made save after save keeping the South Americans in the game.
Ecuador needed a miracle and it never came. In any other instance, the 0-0 tie would of been a great result for Ecuador, but they needed a victory. France will now move on to the round of 16 where they will face Nigeria on Monday at 12 P.M ET. The French have been one of the most impressive teams in the tournament thus far. Karim Benzema looks to be in sharp form, along with Paul Pogba, Blaise Matuidi, Bacary Sagna and Olivier Giroud ,Les Bleus have just as much talent as anyone. They will meet a tough Nigeria team who will are physical and have speed. Honduras played France physical and it seemed to work until they received a red card. France scored 3 unanswered goals following the ejection. Realistically, France should take care of the Nigerians and find themselves in the quarterfinals, but they shouldn’t take the African champions lightly.
