Swiss Euro football dream ends with heartbreak against Spain

Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer turned in a fine display but could not stop Spain from winning the quarterfinal on penalties. Keystone / Anton Vaganov

Switzerland crashed out of the European football championship by losing their quarterfinal match against Spain on penalties on Friday.

The match ended 1-1 after extra-time but Spain scored three penalties to Switzerland’s one in the Euro 2020 knock-out tie in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Spain took an early lead via an own goal by Denis Zakaria but talismanic Swiss striker Xherdan Shaqiri equalized in the 68^th minute.

Nine minutes later, Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler was sent off for a foul, but Switzerland held on to force the game into extra-time.

Spain dominated the final 30 minutes of play, raining shots in on the Swiss goal but a string of fine saves by goalkeeper Yann Sommer kept his side in the game.

For the second game in a row Switzerland were involved in a penalty shoot-out to determine the final result. On this occasion, their opponents, Spain, held their nerve better to convert three penalties to a solitary Swiss effort.

Switzerland had reached the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the first time since 1954 with a dramatic victory against France earlier in the week.