After 45 dizzying minutes, Switzerland secured second place in the group, despite the defeat by Brazil, and knocked Serbia out of the saddle, who for a few minutes dreamed of being in the round of 16.
Hope was dashed as soon as the second part began, so the Balkans returned home after another defeat.
Serbia and Switzerland decided to pay tribute to attacking football, they stood up to speculation and chose to survive or die, but with their boots on.
From minute one, from the first twenty seconds, when the Swiss stood up to Milinkovic, the Ourense goalkeeper —not to be confused with his brother, who is from Lleida and was also on the field—, and they created two consecutive chances.
Each blow from one team was replicated by the other without interruption, the attackers on both sides tireless.
Serbia responded to the initial scare with a shot from Zivkovic to the post from outside the area.
It was the auction festival, in which everyone lined up to participate.
Defensive relaxation in both areas contributed, of course.
You can't ask for everything, although it would be worth it to Switzerland, in principle, with a tie and they could have more temptations to hide and endure.
But both teams got wet, even if it didn't rain in the desert.
He opened the Swiss account, after 20 minutes.
Shaqiri lined up to successfully finish off an assist from Sow, who had received the ball from Ricardo Rodríguez, after the side's run, who found a corridor with no one to ask for his passport to cross the border.
But Serbia had answers, especially from Tadic, who stole two balls in midfield to turn the result around.
In the first, six minutes after the Swiss goal, he had time to raise the periscope, observe Mitrovic's position and put the ball at the right time and place for the header.
Another Swiss mistake was taken advantage of by Tadic again to steal, put the ball and look closely at Vlahovic's excellent movement to, rectifying the run, shoot cross and score.
With that goal, it was Serbia who had a ticket for the second phase, although the game showed signs that making pools on the outcome was very risky.
It was ratified by the tie in Switzerland, when the fourth referee was fiddling with the board to score the discount minutes.
An action on the right, with the Serbian defense on the moon of Valencia, was sealed by Embolo finishing off Shaqiri's delivery from close range.
Another time the Swiss delegate called his hotel to keep the reservations.
The beginning of the second set sent signals that neither team was willing to change their way of seeing the game, but the trend suggested that, in the exchange of blows, Serbia had more ballots to worry about their defensive weakness.
It was immediately certified by Switzerland.
Shaqiri touched the area, Vargas extended his spur and Freuler finished off the play by pushing the ball into the net.
Xhaka and Embolo, from Switzerland, get involved with several Serbian players in a massive tangana. Georgi Licovski (EFE)
It was then that Murat Yakin decided to stop.
The Swiss coach put a little more steel to his rearguard, settled back and avoided surprises.
Serbia needed two goals, but without the spark of the first half, they hardly worried the Swiss.
Both teams let go, the game languished, altered only by some skirmishes and a massive brawl, and Switzerland qualified for the round of 16.
Serbia fails to break through the group stage barrier.
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Classification
Group G | PT | P.J. | PG | PE | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 bra | 6 | 3 | two | 0 | 1 |
two SUI | 6 | 3 | two | 0 | 1 |
3 CAM | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
4 BE | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | two |
Group G | PT | P.J. | PG | PE | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 bra | 6 | 3 | two | 0 | 1 |
two SUI | 6 | 3 | two | 0 | 1 |
3 CAM | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
4 BE | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | two |
