The France soccer jerseys looked nothing if not bulletproof in the Friday afternoon bout against Switzerland, which saw the two teams facing one another on the pitch of Brazil's Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador. Prior to the tournament, Switzerland had been slotted at number six on FIFA's world rankings list, handily outstripping France (at 17), as well as the Ecuador and Honduras football teams that round out Group E.
In fact, Switzerland's debut appearance at the 2014 World Cup a workmanlike, 2-1 win over Ecuador only contributed to the belief that Switzerland was a frontrunner to win Group E and move on to the knockout stage. Now, though, with France clearly caring very little for FIFA's supposed rankings, and with five allowed goals doing no favors to Switzerland in the goal difference department, Switzerland will absolutely have to defeat Honduras next Wednesday and by a fair margin, no less if the team wants to join France at the top of the group.
Two Quick Goals
While France's five-goal total in today's match makes the game look like an especially notable show of dominance on paper, the most interesting thing about the match wasn't that France scored five goals, but that all five of those goals were scored by different players. To say that the France 2014 World Cup away shirt was a beacon of teamwork on Friday afternoon would be an understatement. Perhaps more than any other high-scoring match that has taken place so far in this year's World Cup, today's France-Switzerland duel showed that, sometimes, a team with many good players is better than a team with a couple of star players.
That much was revealed in the first two goals that France scored, quick consecutive shots at the 18 and 19-minute marks that were scored by striker Oliver Giroud and midfielder Blaise Matuidi. Neither player was part of the French squad at the 2010 World Cup; both have scored fewer than 10 goals in the France soccer jerseys. That international inexperience didn't matter today, though, as it allowed France to quickly take a commanding lead against Switzerland.
Keeping Control
After those two first goals, France didn't look back. An impressive series of saves by Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio kept French striker Karim Benzema who scored two goals in France's match against Ecuador last week from converting a penalty shot to a point at the 32-minute mark. But less than 10 minutes later, attacking midfielder Mathieu Valbuena scored a goal of his own and put France up by three goals going into the second half.
France continued to control the ball in the second 45 minutes of play, with Benzema coming back at the 67-minute mark and using a gorgeous sliding kick to put the ball in the Switzerland net (and score his third goal of the World Cup this far). Midfielder Moussa Sissoko scored another goal just six minutes later to put France up 5-0.
For a moment, it appeared as if the match between France and Switzerland was going to be a thrashing in the vein of last Friday's Spain-Netherlands match. Luckily for Swiss football fans, their team seemed to rally and finally find the chink in the armor of the France soccer jerseys late in the second half, scoring two goals to at least save a little bit of face in the match. Unfortunately, the two goals (scored by midfielders Blerim Dzemalili and Granit Xhaka in the match's final 10 minutes) were too late to turn the tide of the football game.
Switzerland will probably still be able to beat Honduras and advance to the next round, but the team won't have the luxury of resting easy in the third leg of the group stage. France on the other hand, is more or less a lock for advancement.
Looking forward to rooting for the French team in the round of 16 (and beyond)? Head to the Soccer Box online store and pick up a France away shirt today.