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Switzerland managed to overcome and eliminate South Korean footballers from the World Cup and secure a spot in the quarter-finals. The goals for the victorious team were scored by defender Philippe Senderos and forward Alexander Frei. Switzerland will have to face the Ukrainian team in the quarter-finals, which recently defeated Tunisia with a score of 2-0.
Venue: AWD Arena, Hanover, 43,000 spectators Referee: Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) Switzerland 2 - 0 South Korea '23 [1 - 0] Philippe Senderos '77 [2 - 0] Alexander Frei
Switzerland: Zuberbuhler, Spycher, Senderos (Djourou 53), Philipp Degen, Muller, Wicky (Behrami 88), Vogel, Yakin (Margairaz 70), Cabanas, Barnetta, Frei.
South Korea: Woon-Jae Lee, Young-Pyo Lee (Ahn 62), Choi, Jin-Kyu Kim, Dong-Jin Kim, Ho Lee, Nam-Il Kim, Ji-Sung Park, Chu-Young Park (Seol 65), Chun-Soo Lee, Jae-Jin Cho.
From the very first minutes of the match, the South Koreans started attacking the Swiss goal, with forward Cho Jae Jin missing a great opportunity to score in the 3rd minute.
After the initial threats, the Swiss did not take long to respond, but goalkeeper Tranquillo Barnetta failed to capitalize on a chance to change the score, as his shot hit the goal post.
In the middle of the first half, after a mistake by the South Korean forward Park Chu Young, the Swiss goalkeeper Hakan Yakinas earned a penalty, which was successfully converted by his teammate, defender Philippe Senderos, who headed the ball into the goal in the 22nd minute, giving Switzerland the lead with a score of 1-0.
As the half was coming to an end, after a mistake by the South Korean defenders, the Swiss player H. Yakinas had a great opportunity to increase the lead, but his shot was successfully blocked by the South Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae.
In the final minutes of the first half, the South Koreans dangerously attacked the Swiss goal, but goalkeeper Pascalis Zuberbuehler reacted swiftly to a long-range shot by Lee Chun Soo.
At the start of the second half, in the 50th minute of the match, the first goal scorer P. Senderos suffered a serious injury, forcing the Swiss coach Köbi Kuhn to make a forced substitution, bringing in another defender Johan Djourou.
Midway through the second half, Switzerland's forward Alexander Frei missed a chance to score, as his strong shot hit the post. However, in the 77th minute of the match, A. Frei deceived the South Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae and easily sent the ball into the net, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Swiss.
As the match reached its end, the South Korean players tried to press their opponents, but all their efforts were in vain or successfully resisted by goalkeeper Pascalis Zuberbuehler. Switzerland managed to secure a victory with a final score of 2-0.
