Brazil 2014: France Secures Second Round Place with 5-2 Win over Switzerland
By Opeyemi Oladunjoye
France overwhelmed Switzerland in a 5-2 drubbing in a match between the Group E leaders at the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Les Bleus stunned the Swiss with two goals in two minutes to open up the match, which featured five different French scorers. Olivier Giroud started the onslaught in the 17th minute, and France pounced on a very poor Swiss restart to score again a minute later, with Blaise Matuidi finishing the move.
Mathieu Valbuena added to Swiss misery in the 40th on a quick counter. Karim Benzema was stopped on a penalty by Swiss keeper, Diego Benaglio, but ended up scoring in the second half, along with Moussa Sissoko.
Blerim Dzemaili and Granit Xhaka gave the Swiss consolation goals in the final 10 minutes of the match.
Olivier Giroud was named the man of the match for his goal and his assist on the third by Valbuena.
France have now secured a place in the knockout phase and need anly a point against Honduras to finish first place in the group.
“That was a very good match, we did a lot of things right. Five goals against a strong Swiss team, we’ve got six points, that’s ideal. We’ve got a group with strong opponents. We’ve prepared well but have to get through the match with Ecuador and then we’ll start from scratch again in the next round”, France coach, Didier Deschamps said.