Russia inflicts severe defeat on Swiss football team

Switzerland's Hakan Yakin, left, fights for a ball with Russia's Marat Izmailov Keystone

Russia put a full stop on the Swiss football team's campaign for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea on Saturday. Switzerland, which had lost all hope of qualifying prior to the match, was defeated 4-0 in Moscow.

Injury-hit Switzerland finished fourth in the European group one qualifier, after remaining powerless against the Russian team.

The Russians began their goal spree after the Danish referee, Knud Fisker, called a controversial penalty against the Swiss 15 minutes into the match.

Fisker judged that Alexandre Comisetti had fouled Rolan Gusev inside the box as the two battled for the ball on the wet pitch at Moscow’s Dynamo Stadium. Vladimir Beschastnykh left the Swiss goalie Joerg Stiel no chance with his penalty shot.

The Spartak Moscow striker added a second goal just three minutes later. He then made it 3-0 with another header following an assist from Yegor Titov, who finished off the visitors with a free kick after 83 minutes.

Russia topped the group on 23 points from 10 matches, while Switzerland, who only had a slim chance for a play-off spot before the match, stayed in fourth place with 14 points.

With Saturday’s victory, Russia head into the World Cup finals for the first time since 1994.

The Swiss performance

Switzerland’s campaign was dominated by strong performances away. The Swiss team went unbeaten into their match against Russia, and managed to pull off two draws against Slovenia and Yugoslavia.

However, results at home were less satisfactory. The Swiss team, who were suffering from a number of injuries, lost 1-0 to Russia in September 2000, despite having dominated possession.

The same occurred in Basel against Slovenia in June 2001. A mistake by Stéphane Henchoz gifted the visitors with the only goal of the night, and led Enzo Trossero to resign from his position as Swiss coach.

Under the new coach, Köbi Kuhn, the Swiss began with another away win in a friendly match against Austria, but lost their next World Cup qualifier again at home when they were beaten 2-1 by Yugoslavia. Switzerland’s national team played well, but were unable to cope with the second half sending-off of Hakan Yakin.

swissinfo with agencies