World Cup qualifying Group Four, Switzerland 1 Cyprus 0: Switzerland improved their chances of qualifying for the World Cup finals when Alex Frei scored a late winner over unfancied Cyprus in Zurich last night.
Outplayed by the islanders for much of the first half, the Swiss dominated after the break but had to wait until two minutes from time to claim all three points when Frei headed in a cross by Ludovic Magnin.
It was the Rennes striker's 17th goal in 34 appearances for Switzerland and raised their points tally to nine points from five games, the same as the Republic of Ireland and one point less than group leaders France and Israel. The Swiss have a game in hand over France and Israel.
Having themselves taken on the role of underdogs in Saturday's goalless draw in France, the Switzerland seemed uncomfortable with their status as hot favourites for most of yesterday's match.
With only one point from their five previous Group Four matches, Cyprus missed several chances to take a shock lead early on, most notably through PAOK Saloniki striker Michalis Constantinou.
The Cypriots's misfortune was compounded in injury time when stand-in goalkeeper Nikos Panayiotou was sent off for a professional foul on teenage striker Johan Vonlanthen.
SWITZERLAND: Zuberbuhler, Muller, Senderos, Degen, Spycher (Magnin 82 mins), Lonfat (Yakin 62 mins), Cabanas, Vogel, Gygax, Frei, Ziegler (Vonlanthen 42 mins). Subs not used: Roth, Henchoz, Huggel, Rey. Booked: Lonfat. Goal: Frei 88.
CYPRUS: Panagiotou, Louka, Lambrou, Makrides, Krassias (Yiasoumi 81 mins), Okkas, Charalambidis, Constantinou, Satsias, Elia, Garpozis (Aloneftis 90 mins). Subs not used: Morfis, Okkarides, Filaniotis, Michael, Constanti. Sent Off: Panagiotou (90 mins). Booked: Lambrou, Elia, Yiasoumi.
Referee: Stuart Dougal (Scotland).
GROUP SEVEN: Serbia and Montenegro ground out a 0-0 draw with Spain in their Group Seven qualifier last night.
The result leaves Serbia on top of the group with 11 points from five games, two more than Spain who have now drawn three of their five games.
Spain had the lion's share of possession but it was the hosts who missed the best chance when Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman hit the post with only the goalkeeper to beat.
The visitors controlled proceedings in the first half and came close to breaking the deadlock through Joaqin and defender David Albelda, whose flying header forced a great diving save from Dragoslav Jevric.
SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Jevric, Krstajic, Vidic, Gavrancic, Predrag Djordjevic, Dragutinovic, Koroman (Basta 78 mins), Stankovic, Duljaj, Milosevic (Ilic 71 mins), Kezman (Jestrovic 80 mins). Subs not used: Kovacevic, Mladenovic, Vucinic, Vukcevic. Booked: Predrag Djordjevic.
SPAIN: Casillas, Del Horno, Pablo, Puyol (Juanito 46 mins), Sergio, Albelda, De la Pena (Raul 46 mins), Xavi, Reyes (Antonio Lopez 64 mins), Joaquin, Torres. Subs not used: Canizares, Orbaiz, Valeron, Luque. Booked: Sergio, Albelda.
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).
