Opening Day

Switzerland 0 : 1 Czech [1]
Although the result was hardly surprising, most of the match was a Swiss ordeal, who lost their captain and talisman Frei, after he did his knee in, but managed to control the game. However without their main striker, Switzerland was left toothless in attack and lacked the stinging edge. They paid the ultimate price when Czech sub-Sverkos[2] guided the ball into the Swiss net after a looping header caught out the host's defense.

Analysis:

Why the Swiss conceded that goal:

"Control the ball and control the game" is a well known philosophy and the backbone of international football. International football is not about flamboyant moves but more of a set piece exploitation. Just ask England and France. Although the goal was not from a set piece, the meaning was just the same
- better positioning
- lapse in concentration
the Switzerland defense obviously didn't expect the ball to be looped back in, fair enough, but the lack of concentration and co-ordination meant that Sverkos was kept onside and allowed the opportunity to get goal side of the defense. A real typical Senderos moment when they failed to realised that they
- kept Sverkos onside
- failed to realise that they had lost poccession of the ball

Defending that Goal:

No defender likes to defend while running back towards his own goal. If the defense was deeper (ie goal side of Sverkos) they could have been attacking the ball (ie running out from their goal to meet the ball) and prevented the 1v1. Of course easier said than done, the position of the back four (or simply center halves in this case) is the easiest way to defend but the hardest to get right. The easy way in defending this goal is simply man marking, Swiss employed a zonal marking and missed Sverkos' run. If Sverkos was man marked the defender would have had a better chance against him.

How man-marking works:

Stand next to the attacker at all times. No really. Because it is most likely Sverkos would have been faster, cause
-he is a striker
-came on as a sub
the defender's best option is to
-foul him
-pull him back
simply slowing him down enough for the ball to reach the keeper or another defender first. Fouling him might seem unsporting and a red card offense but a subtle kick of heels would have slowed him down enough to have killed the attack.

However once Sverkos got to the end of the looped ball, there was nothing that the Swiss could do except hope the Czech would miss. The defenders were just too far behind Sverkos to do anything but watch the ball go in.