Group G: Switzerland 2 Togo 0 Cry, my beloved Togo. Minutes after Togo's 2-0 defeat by Switzerland in Dortmund yesterday afternoon, the African team's German coach Otto Pfister put a brave face on his side's second consecutive defeat and de facto elimination by saying that Togo were "here to learn".
What have they learned, then? Perhaps that squabbling over match fees in the middle of the tournament is not a good idea. Maybe also that at a World Cup finals the referee does not always blow it your way; that you also have to take your (few) chances when you get them; and that you have to defend with circumspection.
Switzerland, a side all too familiar to Irish readers, stole nothing in winning this tie yesterday. The Swiss took their chances, defended with discipline and even came back from a difficult second half to wrap up the result with a late second goal.
Swiss coach Kobi Kuhn had made just one change from the side that drew 0-0 with France last week, bringing in Lille striker Daniel Gygax for Stuttgart forward Marco Streller. In contrast, Pfister made four changes from the side that lost to South Korea, bringing in Assimo Toure for suspended captain Jean-Paul Abalo and fielding the inexperienced midfield trio of Kuami Agboh, Thomas Dossevi and Richmond Forson.
On a warm, sultry afternoon, the game began brightly with both sides clearly intent on business. Togo even created a half chance in the opening minute when Guincamp striker Mohamed Kadir turned his defender in the area, only to have his shot blocked by goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler.
Even though Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Kadir had two other early chances, it was the Swiss who initially established territorial supremacy and in only the 17th minute they transformed that supremacy into a goal. Left back Ludovic Magnin skipped past Toure before getting in a deep cross that was deftly touched back across the area by midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta to set up an easy goal for striker Alexander Frei.
Pfister reacted to that reverse by bringing on Musapha Salifou for Agboh and the little Stade Brest midfielder so effectively upped the Togo rhythm that the African side soon created three clear chances. First, on the half-hour, Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos completely missed a cross from Mamam setting up a glorious chance for Dossevi, who shot wide.
If the Africans had only themselves to blame for that miss, they could point a finger at Paraguayan referee Carlos Amarilla for their second missed opportunity. Adebayor, finally playing like a Premiership player, turned defender Patrick Müller one way and then the other in the 35th minute before being brought down in the area.
After the game, Kobi Kuhn sportingly admitted it should have been a penalty. Adebayor, for his part, was still railing at the referee when Togo had their third clear chance with Kadir seemingly certain to score before being denied by an excellent sliding tackle from Müller, just two minutes later.
At half-time, Kuhn took off the disappointing Gygax, replacing him with the talented Hakan Yakin. That proved an intelligent move since even though Togo mounted a veritable second-half assault, the Swiss always looked dangerous on the counter-attack, especially through Yakin.
Indeed, it was the Swiss who had the clearest second-half chances with goalkeeper Kossi Agassa tipping a Barnetta shot over the bar before having to make good saves first from Frei and then from Yakin. Togo stuck bravely to their task, with Kadir, Adebayor, Salifou and Mamam all busy but, in the end, Zuberbuehler had little serious work to do.
In the circumstances, a second Swiss goal was inevitable. It came in the 88th minute when Togo, rushing out of defence on yet another attack, were unlucky to lose possession. The ball fell to Swiss substitute Mauro Lustrinelli, who knocked it to the unmarked Barnetta, wide on the right. His well struck, first-time drive from outside the area hit the inside of the post and bounced in for the goal that ended the contest.
As we go into match day three next Friday in this group, three sides - France, South Korea and Switzerland - can all still qualify. When Togo meet France in Cologne, the French will be playing for the points, Togo for their pride and reputation. Lest anyone has failed to understand just how much damage Togo have done to that reputation, the point was underlined by coach Pfister after the game, when he said: "If you have a 45-man delegation at the World Cup, then all 45 should be working, 24 hours per day for the good of the team. I had the clear impression that this was not the case with the Togo delegation, here in Germany"
SUBSTITUTES
TOGO: Salifou for Agboh (23 mins); Senaya for Dossevi (69 mins); Malm for Mamam (86 mins). Subs not used: Akoto, Atsou, Aziawonou, Erassa, Obilale, Olufade, Tchagnirou, Assemoassa. Booked: Salifou, Adebayor, Romao.
SWITZERLAND: Yakin for Gygax (45 mins); Streller for Cabanas (76 mins); Lustrinelli for Frei (86 mins). Subs not used: Benaglio, Coltorti, David Degen, Djourou, Dzemaili, Grichting, Margairaz, Spycher, Behrami. Booked: Vogel.
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)
