Match report: Switzerland 1-1 Spain* (AET)
Nick Ames was at the Saint Petersburg Stadium for The Guardian and filed this report on a slow-burner that eventually morphed into a tense, nerve-shredding thriller.
A quick recap: Spain went ahead after eight minutes when a Jordi Alba shot was deflected into his own goal by Denis Zakaria, who started in place of the injured Granit Xhaka. Against the run of play, Xherdan Shaqiri equalised on 68 minutes, after Remo Freuler pounced to capitalise on a rather slapstick defensive mix-up between Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres.
Freuler was sent off 10 minutes later, leaving Switzerland to hold out for 40 minutes with just 10 men. They defended stoutly and benefitted from astonishing Spanish profligacy in front of goal to hold out for penalties, only to miss three of their spot-kicks and bow out of the competition.
Meanwhile in Munich: Belgium and Italy are going toe-to-toe with a semi-final spot against Spain up for grabs. You can follow proceedings at whatever Uefa are insisting we call the Allianz Arena for the duration of this tournament in the company of Scott Murray ...
A word for Unai Simon: While we can only speculate as to how much Spain’s goalkeeper got inside of the heads of Switzerland’s penalty-takers, he certainly seems to have put a few of them off with his constant shimmying over and back across his goalline as they waited for the whistle and began their run-ups.
This just in: In a surprising turn of events, Roy Keane, Graeme Souness and Nigel De Jong are unanimous in their agreement that Remo Freuler deserved a red card. I did not seeing that coming.
More applause: The Spanish players briefly halt their post-match celebrations to applaud their beaten opponents, who played over 40 minutes with 10 men, off the pitch and down the tunnel. It’s a nice touch from players who know they’ve been in a battle.
Kudos to the Swiss fans: Congregated in one corner of the stadium, they cheer and applaud their team, who have walked over to thank them for their support.
Match result: Switzerland 1-1 Spain (AET) (Spain win 3-1 on pens)
Wow! That was tense but it’s Spain who advance to the semi-finals. Spare a thought for Ruben Vargas, who is in floods of tears after sending his spot-kick over the bar. Thiago Alcantara tries to console him as the rest of Spain’s players celebrate.
He goes to join them, leaving Granit Xhaka and other Swiss players to comfort the sobbing Vargas. It’s a heroic exit for Switzerland, who can go home with their heads held extremely high.
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Penalties: Switzerland 1-3 Spain*
Mikel Oyarzabal sends Sommer the wrong way and Spain into the semi-finals!
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Penalties: *Switzerland 1-2 Spain
Ruben Vargas shoots over the bar! It’s match point Spain.
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Penalties: Switzerland 1-2 Spain*
Gerard Moreno makes no mistake, burying his high effort.
Penalties: *Switzerland 1-1 Spain
Manuel Akanji has his low effort saved by Simon.
Penalties: Switzerland 1-1 Spain*
Sommer saves from Rodri, who was brought on to take a penalty.
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Penalties: *Switzerland 1-1 Spain
Fabian Schar has his spot-kick saved by Unai Simon, who dived low to his right
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Penalties: Switzerland 1-1 Spain*
Dani Olmo roofs the ball.
Penalties: *Switzerland 1-0 Spain
Gavranovic scores, sending Simon the wrong way.
Penalties: Switzerland 0-0 Spain*
Sergio Busquets hits the post after sending Sommer the wrong way.
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Full time after extra time: Switzerland 1-1 Spain
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over again ... except of course it isn’t ... again. Ten-man Switzerland have mounted a heroic rearguard action to earn themselves a penalty shoot-out.
ET30+1: Gavranovic is booked for a foul out by the touchline and Spain have a free-kick. Rodri heads the inswinger over. Gavranovic has just earned himself a ban should Switzerland progress.
ET30: Spain continue to lay siege to the Swiss penalty area, desperate to avoid the shoot-out their opponents are pinning all their hopes on.
ET30: Spain substitution: Rodri the penalty taker on, Pedri the 18-year-old off.
ET29: Moreno wins possession in midfield, charges forward and shoots low from outside the Swiss penalty area. Sommer saves comfortably.
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ET27: Switzerland get the ball out of their own half, earning some brief respite. They win a throw-in, which Mbabu foolishly chucks long into the Spain penalty area, gifting them possession.
ET25: The Swiss cling on after an impromptu pin-ball session in their penalty area ends with the ball going out for a corner. It’s delivered to the near post, where Busquets’ flick-on is collected by Sommer.
ET24: This is truly heroic from Switzerland, who are having the kitchen sink, the dishwasher, the cooker, the microwave oven, the food blender, the sandwich maker with the thin film of grime and every other kitchen appliance you can think of thrown at them by the Spaniards.
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ET23: Spain substitution: Thiago Alcantara on for Pau Torres.
ET22: Another pull-back to Olmo, who fires high and wide from about eight yards out.
ET22: Dani Olmo runs on to a pull-back from the byline and drives a low shot straight at Yann Sommer.
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ET20: Rodriguez slides in to block brilliantly from Marcos Llorente as the Spaniard pulled ther trigger a couple of yards inside the Switzerland box. That is heroic last ditch defending from a man who must be mentally and physically shattered.
ET19: Mbabu tries and fails to clear the ball down by the corner flag and Spain win a throw-in deep in opposition territory.
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ET18: Mbabu gallops past Pau Torres on the right wing with the ball at his feet and goes to ground. He appeals for a free-kick but doesn’t get one. Spain get back on the ball.
ET17: Ricardo Rodriguez does well to head out a ball over the top from Sergio Busquets.
ET16: Play resumes, with Spain getting the ball rolling.
Half-time in extra time: Switzerland 1-1 Spain
It’s all square with 15 minutes to go and Switzerland seriously under the cosh. Can they cling on? They’re currently in a huddle, with the suspended Granit Xhaka giving the the pep-talk.
ET15: Should Switzerland manage to get to penalties, a state of affairs that’s looking unlikely at the moment given how under siege they find themselves, they can take heart from the fact that Spain have missed each and everyone of the past five spot-kicks they’ve been awarded in various games.
ET13: Swiss double-substitution from a couple of minutes ago: Kevin Mbabu and Fabian Schar on for Silvan Widmar and Denis Zakaria. Switzerland now have more players on the pitch who began the game on the subs bench than players who started the game: 6 v 4.
ET12: From the ensuing corner, Sommer punches clear.
ET11: Moreno is denied again, Sommer saving brilliantly from close range as the Spaniard swung his foot at a breaking ball after a pass through the centre.
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ET9: Another Spain corner. Moreno leaps highest, misses the ball with his head and grimaces as it bounces wide off his shoulder. Spain are missing far too many chanc es.
ET8: Moments before that Olmo shot, Sommer was forced to save well from Jordi Alba, tipping over the bar. From the corner, the Swiss goalkeeper saved comfortably from a Moreno header.
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ET7: A Dani Olmo shot from the edge of the penalty area takes a wicked deflection off his teammate Gerard Moreno. Sommer is wrongfooted hopelessly but the ball spins wide of the upright.
ET4: Having seen the red card offence a couple of more times, I remain mystified by Michael Oliver’s decision to show Freuler a red card. My Twitter echo chamber seems similarly bemused. On ITV, former Premier League ref Peter Walton agreed that it was a red, because of “the force of the challenge”. Make of that what you will.
Studio pundits Graeme Souness, Roy Keane and Nigel De Jong have yet to comment on the matter but I suspect, given the manner in which they went about their business during their playing days, they’ll be withering in their criticism of Oliver’s decision.
ET2: On the edge of the six-yard box, Gerard Moreno somehow fails to convert a wonderful, low Jordi Alba cross from the left. He shinned the ball wide when scoring looked easier.
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Extra time: Switzerland 1-1 Spain
ET1: Play resumes and Spain have brought on another sub. Mikel Oyarzabal is on for Ferran Torres.
Full time: Switzerland 1-1 Spain
Peep! Peep! Peep! It’s all over in Saint Petersburg ... except of course it isn’t. For the second time in a week, both these teams will have to play 30 minutes extra time. It’s a tall order for both sets of exhausted players, not least the Swiss who are down to 10 men following the dismissal of midfielder Remo Freuler.
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90+4 min: Manuel Akanji does well to prevent Marcos Llorente getting a cross in from the right.
90+3 min: Aymeric Laporte gets booked for clattering into the back of Gavranovic.
90+2 min: Spain substittution: Marcos Llorente on for Koke. Switzerland substitution: Christian Fassnacht on for Steven Zuber.
90 min: The fourth official signals a minimum of four minutes of added time as a Koke shot from distance takes a deflection off the back of Akanji and into the hands of Sommer.
89 min: Spain go in search of a winner in normal time, pressing and probing on the edge of the final third. Ruben Vargas does well to clear for Switzerland under pressure after Moreno got the ball into the penalty area.
87 min: Gavranovic pounces on a Busquets error and gallops upfield, showing no signs of injury. He advances into the Spain penalty area, where he is relieved of possession. Jordi Alba goes down with a head injury, possibly having taken a bang on the back of the neck from Gavranovic’s knee.
85 min: Switzerland’s luck goes from bad to worse. Having just come on, Gavranovic looks like he might have pulled a hamstring. He stays put for now.
84 min: Gerard Moreno tries to curl a shot into the bottom left-hand corner but succeeds only in shooting straight at Sommer.
83 min: The Swiss have set up with two banks of four across the park, with Gavranovic up front on his own. A combative midfielder who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, Sow has replaced the more creative Shaqiri.
81 min: Switzerland double-substitution: Mario Gavranovic and Djibril Sow on for Seferovic and Shaqiri.
79 min: Freuler looks extremely crestfallen as he walks off protesting his innocence and I casn’t say I blame him. My impression, having seen it twice, is that his challenge was worth a booking but nothing more – it was late but it didn’t seem to endanger his opponent in any way.
RED CARD! Remo Freuler is off ...
The Swiss midfielder is dismissed for sliding in with a late challenge on Gerard Moreno. Following a VAR check, the card stands.
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76 min: Not long after Gerard Moreno squared the ball across the face of the Swiss goal, only to throw his arms in the air in frustration when nobody was on hand to poke it goalwards, Dani Olm o has an attempted cross from the other side blocked by Widmar.
72 min: Switzerland break upfield with Zakaria and Zuber combining. There’s a real spring in the collective Swiss step after they were gifted that equaliser.
70 min: Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte get themselves in an awful mess under very little pressure at the back, with one clanking a loose ball off the other’s shins, allowing Remo Freuler to nip between them, steal it and square for Shaqiri. The Swiss captain had the simple task of slotting home from seven or eight yards out.
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GOAL! Switzerland 1-1 Spain (Shaqiri 68)
Switzerland equalise on the back of some horrific defending by Spain!
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66 min: Spain continue to dominate in a game that, while absorbing, is low on entertainment. Michael Oliver reaches for his card for the first time in this game, booking Silvan Vidmar for a late challenge on Sergio Busquets.
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64 min: Steven Zuber gallops upfield, riding a challenge from Ferran Torres en route. He plays the ball inside to Vargas, continues his run and picks up the return pass. His shot to the near post brings an excellent save out of Simon, who parries the ball around the upright. Nothing comes of the ensuing corner.
63 min: Spain win themselves a corner after Ruben Vargas puts the ball out of play down by the corner flag. Akanji clears the inswinger at the near post.
61 min: Sommer sends a clearance straight out of play for a Spain throw-in.
59 min: A Koke free-kick through the centre is chested down in the Swiss penalty area by Ferran Torres, who volleys wide off Seferovic. Corner for Spain. Nothing comes of it.
58 min: Nico Elvedi hacks down Dani Olmo out on the left flank but escapes a booking.
56 min: Switzerland go close! Zakaria outjumps Ferran Torres and steers a downward header inches wide of the far upright. One suspects if Switzerland are to score, their goal will come from a set piece.
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56 min: Laporte puts the ball out for another Swiss corner. Shaqiri’s cross is put out for another by Moreno.
55 min: Spain substitution: Gerard Morenaon for Alvaro Morata.
53 min: Spain continue to dominate possession, pinging the ball about patiently and without any great urgency.
50 min: Olmo sends a rocket of a cross in from the left. Off balance and falling backwards, Koke is unable to steer his header goalwards.
49 min: Ferran Torres drills a low cross from the right along the edge of the six-yard box. Morata miscontrols and a great chance for Spain to double their lead goes to waste.
47 min: Olmo doesn’t take long to make his presence felt, cutting in from the left to catch a cross on the volley and force Sommer into a smart save. It wouldn’t have counted if it had gone in - Morata was flagged for offside in the middle.
Second half: Switzerland 0-1 Spain
46 min: Play resumes, with one change in personnel in the Spanish ranks. Dani Olmo is on for Pablo Sarabia.
Half-time: Switzerland 0-1 Spain
Peep! Michael Oliver draws the first half to a close. Spain have been in the ascendency for most of the half and have restricted Switzerland to a handful of off-target efforts. THey lead courtesy of a Denis Zakaria own goal, the Swiss midfielder unwittingly deflecting a Jordi Alba shot from distance past his own goalkeeper.
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45+1 min: A Hail Mary ball into the Spain penalty area from deep fails to find the head of Seferovic.
43 min: A Mexican Wave is doing the rounds of the stands in Saint Petersburg, which is perhaps indicative of the fairly poor quality of the game taking place on the pitch. In the absence of much of a show being put on by the players of both sides, the crowd has decided to provide its own amusement.
42 min: A decent cross from the left from Sarabia is a mite too close to Yann Sommer, who claims it comfortably.
41 min: Pedri is holding the smnall of his back and grimacing after shipping a sly knee from Widmar.
40 min: The ball comes in from the corner and Silvan Widmar leaps to meet it with his head at the far post. Ferran Torres jumps with him and prevents him from steering his effort on target.
39 min: Another corner for Switzerland after their most promnising attack of the game. It broke down following Vargas’s reluctance to cross after cutting in from the right. He opted for one pass too many instead.
37 min: Morata trips Akanji as both players chase the ball down the inside right channel. Free-kick for Switzerland.
35 min: Another Switzerland corner. Shaqiri over-hits his delivery and referee Michael Oliver awards a goal-kick after the ball goes out of play by the far corner flag following a tussle between Pedri and Zubar. I thought it went out off Pedri but I could be mistaken.
34 min: Switzerland corner. On the edge of the six-yard box, Manuel Akanji leaps and gets his head to the ball but is unable to keep his effort down or on target.
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33 min: Spain continue to dominate with the Swiss offering very little in the way of a threat. “There’s nobody running in behind the defence,” says Lee Dixon on ITV co-comms.
30 min: Shaqiri plays the ball wide for Steven Zuber, who is unable to get a cross into the penalty area but does win his side a throw-in deep in Spanish territory.
29 min: Shaqiri tries to play Haris Seferovic in behind the Spanish defence but his pass is intercepted.
28 min: Pablo Sarabia goes down holding the outside of his foot after being tackled robustly by Ricardo Rodriguez.
26 min: Cesar Azpilicueta gets a free header from the corner but powers his effort straight at Sommer, who saves comfortably.
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24 min: Ferran Torres swings a cross from the right into the path of Morata but the ball is hacked out of play for another corner by Elvedi, who did well to recover after letting the Spain striker get goal side of him.
23 min: Switzerland substitution: Ruben Vargas on for Breel Embolo, who succumbs to a hamstring injury. An evening that started badly for Switzerland is going quickly downhill.
21 min: In bad news for Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria and Spain full-back Jordi Alba, the goal has now been officially chalked up as an own goal.
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21 min: Nothing comes of the Swiss corner, which was taken while Embolo was still receiving treatment off the pitch.
19 min: Unai Simon makes a pig’s ear of a clearance under pressuire from the high Swiss press and Spain concede a corner on the back of his mini-panic. THere’s a break in play as Breel Embolo receives treatment for what looks like a hamstring injury.
17 min: From the free-kick, Koke shoots for goal but his curled effort is too high.
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16 min: Zakiria fouls Morata just outside the Swiss penalty area on the left side. Free-kick for Spain.
15 min: Another Spain corner, the ball being put out of play by Nico Elvedi. Sarabia’s outswinger is headed clear.
13 min: Ferran Torres gives the ball away to Steven Zuber after failing to collect a cross-field pass and the Swiss left-back tries to square it for Shaqiri just outside the Spain penalty area. His pass is intercepted and cleared.
11 min: Sarabia and Alvaro Morata combine to good effect just outside the Swiss penalty area but are soon forced backwards.
9 min: That’s rotten luck for the Swiss. From the corner, the ball was cleared as far as Jordi Alba, who sent it goalwards with interest. Yann Sommer almost certainly had his shot covered but the ball took a horrific deflection off Zakaria, leaving the goalkeeper completely wrongfooted and helpless. Alba is credited with the goal, his first for Spain in four years.
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GOAL! Switzerland 0-1 Spain (Jordi Alba 8)
The corner is an outswinger and the ball breaks to Jordi Alba outside the Swiss penalty area. His shot takes a wicked deflection off Zakaria, leaving Yann Sommer with no chance whatsoever.
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7 min: Spain win a corner, Ricardo Rodriguez sliding in to take the ball off the toe of Ferran Torres.
6 min: The Swiss get forward and Widmar squares the ball for Zakiria on the gallop from midfield but his delivery is intercepted. Switzerland look dangerous on the break.
5 min: Spain continue to dominate possession in these early stages, attempting to pass Switzerland into submission. The ball’s played long towards Sarabia in the corner but Ricardo Rodriguez leaps to intercept with a header.
3 min: Spain settle on the ball, pinging it over and back across the field inside their own half. They advance and get the ball into the Swiss penalty area, where Yann Sommer elects to punch it clear rather than catch.
1 min: Pablo Sarabia stumbles down the inside left for Spain but is dispossessed by Switzerland right-back Silvan Widmar. Switzerland break up field and Xherdan Shaqiri tries his luck from distance. Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon saves comfortably.
Switzerland v Spain is go ...
1 min: Spain kick off, their players wearing white shirts, shorts and socks. Switzerland’s wear all red.
Not long now: After a two-day Euro 2020 football famine, play is about to get under way again. Led by English referee Michael Oliver and his team of match officials, Switzerland are first out on to the pitch, followed moments later by Spain. It’s time for the national anthems and kick-off is less than five minutes away.
Which begs the question: What was to blame: the moonlight, the good times or the boogie?
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Most pleasing thing about Unai Simón reflecting on his error the other day: he took advice from the Jackson Five and refused to blame it on the sunshine.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) July 2, 2021
Those teams: Luis Enrique makes two changes to the side that beat Croatia, bringing Jordi Alba and Pau Torres into defence in place of Jose Gaya and Eric Garcia.
There’s just one change to the Switzerland team that started against France. As expected, Denis Zakaria comes into midfield in place of Granit Xhaka, who sits this one out on the Uefa-designated Naughty Step.
Switzerland v Spain line-ups
Switzerland: Sommer, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Widmer, Freuler, Zakaria, Zuber, Shaqiri, Embolo, Seferovic.
Subs: Mbabu, Vargas, Mvogo, Sow, Fassnacht, Benito, Gavranovic, Fernandes, Kobel, Schar, Comert, Lotomba.
Spain: Simon, Azpilicueta, Laporte, Pau Torres, Jordi Alba, Koke, Busquets, Gonzalez, Ferran Torres, Morata, Sarabia.
Subs: de Gea, Diego Llorente, Marcos Llorente, Gerard, Thiago, Garcia, Sanchez, Gaya, Rodri, Olmo, Traore, Oyarzabal.
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
Some pre-match listening ...
Football Weekly: Our chart-topping football podcast has gone daily for the Euros and in the latest instalment, Max Rushden, Jonathan Liew, Barney Ronay and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan preview the four quarter-finals. You can listen here and if you’re not already a subscriber, sign uyp for free in all the usual podcast places. If you like what you hear or already a fan, we’d really appreciate it if you could take a minute to vote for us in the Listeners’ Choice Award category of the British Podcast Awards.
Tonight’s match officials
- Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
- Assistant referees: Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett (England)
- Fourth official: Ovidiu Haţegan (Romania)
- Video Assistant Referee: Chris Kavanagh (England)
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Vladimir Petkovic speaks
“It’s the same as the game against France,” he said, upon being asked about his squad’s preparation for this game. “We celebrated what we did against France, but now it’s time to move on, create new emotions. We have to believe and show the will that we want to progress tomorrow.”
On Spain. “They’re a technical and hard-working side that we know from recent games against them,” he said. “They’re favourites, but we want to achieve our goals and keep moving forward.”
On the absence of Granit Xhaka. “Of course, when such an influential player like Xhaka is missing, it means each individual on the pitch has to give ten per cent more. They have to run, be combative, and I’m convinced that we’ll see that tomorrow.”
Luis Enrique speaks ...
“I don’t know yet,” said Spain’s manager upon asked what he thought the key to tonight’s quarter-final might be. “Whichever team achieves the task of beating the other’s press, because we’ll both play that way, that’s important. Whoever is more decisive in the opposition penalty area will have the bigger options. I think it’s going to be a lovely game for the fans, an intense quarter-final. With goals.”
On the absence of Granit Xhaka. “I guess that he’s the most outstanding international player for Switzerland at the moment,” he said. “Personally, I’d have preferred that he was available. I am quite sure that whoever Switzerland pick will be someone who equals, or betters, what Xhaka would have produced. They’ll still be Switzerland without him.”
Early team news
Switzerland are without the suspended Granit Xhaka, the Arsenal midfielder having picked up his second yellow card of the tournament during what was arguably the performance of his life in victory over France. He is likely to be replace by Denis Zakaria, a 24-year-old defensive midfielder who plies his trade with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga. Luis Enrique has no reported injury concerns but may recall Jordi Alba at left-back, after picking Jose Gaya ahead of him for Spain’s win over Croatia.
Quarter-final: Spain v Switzerland
There’s a place in the semi-finals against Belgium or Italy up for grabs for whoever triumphs in tonight’s eliminator in St Petersburg between Spain and Switzerland. At this stage of a major competition for the first time in nearly 70 years, Switzerland advanced after beating World Champions France on penalties. Spain arrive high on the hog after seeing off Croatia in a another thriller that went to extra time.
Three times the winners of the European Championship, Luis Enrique’s side go into this game as favourites but come up against a confident Swiss side that has already surpassed expectations and has nothing to lose. Kick-off is at 5pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
