Switzerland lose 3-1 to Uruguay in friendly

An injury-ridden Swiss squad was humbled by Uruguay on Wednesday in a friendly match ahead of June’s World Cup.

Edinson Cavani scored the third Uruguayan goal in the 87th minute. Gökhan Inler scored the only Swiss goal in the 29th minute, converting a penalty.

Cavani’s clincher followed successful strikes by forwards Luis Suarez and 2009 European Golden Boot winner Diego Forlan.

Only a solid showing from goalkeeper Marco Wölfli, standing in for injured Diego Benaglio, prevented a rout.

With strikers Alex Frei and Blaise Nkufo out because of injury, Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld took advantage of the opportunity to test a few newcomers.

“I was a little surprised that I played from the beginning,” admitted Xherdan Shaqiri, a Kosovo-born midfielder who won his first cap for Switzerland.

Hitzfeld also gave chances to impress to Davide Chiumento, Jonathan Rossini and Albert Bunjaku.

It was the second loss in a row during Switzerland’s preparation for the World Cup. The Swiss were beaten 1-0 by Norway last November.

Switzerland have drawn a tough group at the finals that includes much-fancied European champions Spain, as well as Chile and Honduras.

“Chile are better than Uruguay so we can see what we’re up against in the World Cup if we can’t beat Uruguay,” said Hitzfeld.

swissinfo.ch and agencies