By DAN KARELL
In a wild day of international soccer, perhaps the most surprising result came at St. Jakob-Park in Basel.
Switzerland, who held the majority of the chances in the match, defeated an out-of-form Brazil team, 1-0, off an own goal by Brazil right back Daniel Alves. The result ended Brazil’s 11-match run unbeaten, which included a Confederations Cup title at the end of June.
With a squad of majority European-based players, Brazil didn’t look as sharp as they had back in June, as a number of their stars are just returning to full fitness for their clubs and haven’t hit form. Switzerland looked the livelier nation early, with a couple of long range blasts from Xherdan Shaqiri being denied by Brazil goalkeeper Jefferson.
The South American’s came closest to scoring in the 39th minute when Paulinho flicked-on a free kick that slammed off the crossbar. Three minutes into the second half, Switzerland found their breakthrough. Shaqiri played his Swiss teammate Haris Seferovic towards the byline in the box, and Seferovic’s cross was expertly headed into his own net by Alves in stunning fashion, giving the Swiss a shock lead and an eventual win.
Here’s a closer look at some of Wednesday’s international soccer action:
LAMBERT SCORES WINNER VS. SCOTLAND
In a rare friendly match between England and Scotland, it figures that the script would be written in fairy-tale style.
31-year-old Rickie Lambert of Southampton marked his England debut as a second-half substitute with a powerful header goal, giving the Three Lions a 3-2 lead in the 70th minute that would turn into victory over Scotland at Wembley Stadium. The goal completed Lambert’s rags to riches story, from playing in England’s fourth division in 2001 to finally reaching the Premier League last year and earning an international call-up this summer.
Scotland’s James Morrison actually put the visitors in front in the 11th minute, but England’s Theo Walcott single-handedly took on two defenders and finished at the far post to tie the match in the 29th minute.
The back and forth nature of the game continued in the second half as Kenny Miller of the Vancouver Whitecaps scored a brilliant left-footed strike in the 49th minute, only for Danny Welbeck’s header four minutes later to cancel it out. Finally, just minutes after entering the pitch, Lambert rose highest on a corner kick to give England the lead once and for all as they held on for victory to celebrate the FA’s 150th anniversary.
ARGENTINA TOPPLE ITALY IN ROME
Even without Lionel Messi and Mario Balotelli in attendance, plenty of quality was still on display highly-anticipated friendly match in Rome.
Gonzalo Higuain scored a goal and an assist to put the visiting Argentina up 2-0 in the second half, before Italy’s Lorenzo Insigne cut the deficit in half in the 75th minute. However, it was not enough as Argentina held on to the 2-1 victory against their old international rivals at the Stadio Olimpico.
The match set up to honor Pope Francis, an Argentine, saw a nice piece of skill by Higuain to open up space for himself and finish in the 21st minute. Four minutes after the halftime break, Ever Banega took a pass from Higuain and sent a low strike past Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon for a two-goal lead. Insigne, in just his second appearance for Italy, curled in a beautiful goal to put the hosts on the board in the 75th minute, though their attempts at finding a leveler would come to no avail.
Here’s a long list of Wednesday’s international soccer matches (all matches friendlies unless otherwise noted):
Northern Ireland 1, Russia 0 (World Cup qualifier-UEFA)
Japan 2, Uruguay 4
South Korea 0, Peru 0
Egypt 3, Uganda 0
Finland 2, Slovenia 0
Chile 6, Iraq 0
Sweden 4, Norway 2
Romania 1, Slovakia 1
Ukraine 2, Israel 0
Colombia 1, Serbia 0
Turkey 2, Ghana 2
Liechtenstein 2, Croatia 3
South Africa 0, Nigeria 2
Hungary 1, Czech Republic 1
Austria 0, Greece 2
Bosnia & Herzegovina 3, USA 4
Switzerland 1, Brazil 0
Iceland 1, Faroe Islands 0
Poland 3, Denmark 2
Germany 3, Paraguay 3
Wales 0, Republic of Ireland 0
Macedonia FYR 2, Bulgaria 0
Italy 1, Argentina 2
England 3, Scotland 2
Belgium 0, France 0
Portugal 1, Netherlands 1
Ecuador 0, Spain 2
Mexico 4, Ivory Coast 1
i despise the brazilian team. did you see the challenge by neymar on the sideline and the slap by marcelo? its a largely meaningless game, and these players have no class, and no respect for their oponents or the referees.
I’ve always said that they were a bunch of highly skilled thugs. (Ramos 1994 WC for example)
Overlooked result of the day has to be Paraguay earning a 3-3 away draw against a top-flight Germany, who had everyone besides Schweinsteiger. It was arguably the best performance by an underdog all day.
Paraguay will not be going to Brazil next year but this is a really talented young team that will make a lot of noise in the next cycle.
I’m glad someone else noticed the Germany-Paraguay match because it was a debacle. The team has been crumbling under Low for some time now, but the rate in recent months has been accelerating and I don’t think Low, who I feel is greatly overrated, has what it takes to stabilize the situation. He’s still calling in his old good buddies, guys like Klose and Podolski whose best days are long gone and still refusing to call in two excellent experienced players like Weidenfeller and Kiessling.
Big upset of Russia…
Were USA and Mexico the only CONCACAF teams to play? Anyone else notice how the US is getting a lot of firsts? First time with a come from behind win over a European team, first time for a player to score in 5 straight games, longest winning streak in US history and longest in the world right now. Then previously there was the first win at Azteca and the win in Italy for the first win over a major European team away. This is a golden time for US soccer.
Should be noted that Germany was humiliated with the 3-3 tied against Paraguay at home and the stuff is really hitting the fan hard, with Jogi Low coming increasingly under attack and fans wondering how the famous German defense has become so weak. A Germany loss against Austria in September and this could get interesting. Personally, am hoping Low remains coach through WC 2014 because with him at the helm I predict they fizzle out early and would be great fun to watch, especially if the USMNT is the one to knock ’em out.
Missed this when I posted mine. Germany do have a very serious un-German problem at the back right now. It will be interesting to see if they try to clamp down against Austria, or just try and blow by the opposition like they’ve been doing since ’06. It’s still Germany, though – they rarely fail to compensate for weaknesses until the late rounds of tournaments.
Interestingly out of these 28 games, only 5 away teams won. Argentina over Italy was probably the only surprise away-winner other than the USA’s victory.
Egypt 3, Uganda nil.