Spain reacted furiously to their clear defeat against Japan: Jorge Vilda’s team won 5-1 against the Swiss, who had no chance, at the start of the World Cup round of 16 – despite a bizarre own goal.
No changes were made to Switzerland’s starting line-up compared to the 0-0 draw with New Zealand at the end of the preliminary round. Wälti will once again lead Switzerland onto the pitch as captain.
Spain coach Jorge Vilda made five changes after the 4-0 defeat against Japan: Cata Coll was surprisingly preferred to Misa in goal. Oihane, Laia Codina, Esther and Alba started in place of Olga, Rocio, Alexia and Mariona.
Codina surprises Cata Coll from 40 metres
The game was a one-sided affair for Spain – which, however, also provided a bizarre highlight in the first half of the game: Codina scored unchallenged from around 40 metres with a sharp back pass into his own goal to make it 1-1 in the meantime, visibly surprising Cata Coll in the box in the process (11.).
There was not much time to celebrate for the Nati, who had already fallen behind in the 5th minute through Aitana’s beautiful low shot from a hook. The dominance of the Iberians was too great and Redondo headed in Aitana’s cross to make it 2-1 (17th) and again Aitana, with Salma’s help, made it 3-1 (36th). Finally, just before the break, Codina was privileged to answer her remarkable own goal from a corner with a shot into the right net to make it 4-1 (45.).
Jenni puts the finishing touchSpain
Spain were almost always in control in the second half. However, numerous changes, among other things, hampered the flow of the game. Only goal scorer Jenni scored once more with a shot into the goal of the Nati – 5:1 (70.).
The Spaniards will now face the winner of the Netherlands versus South Africa in the quarter-finals. Kick-off in the battle for a place in the World Cup preliminary round is Friday at 3am (CEST) in Wellington.