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Switzerland breathes again

Switzerland have kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the 2010 football World Cup with a 2:1 victory over Latvia in St Gallen on Saturday.

The game was Switzerland’s first win in the three qualifying matches they have played so far.

The Swiss dominated in the first half, but despite creating several chances, failed to make good on any of them, to the disappointment of the home crowd, who whistled as their team left the pitch.

The score was finally opened by Alex Frei in the 63rd minute.

Seven minutes later the Latvians were left with only ten men, when Juris Laizans was sent off after fouling Behrami. But that did not prevent the visitors from equalising almost immediately, with Deniss Ivanovs scoring in the 71st minute.

The Swiss did not allow the Latvians to rejoice for long: two minutes later Nkufo put Switzerland’s second goal into the net.

Switzerland face Greece in their next qualifying game on Wednesday. In their other games so far they have drawn with Israel and been beaten by Luxembourg.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR