Del Bosque unhappy after defeat

Vicente Del Bosque
12 April 2012

Spain coach Vincente Del Bosque saluted Switzerland for their solid work in defence but insisted they did not deserve victory over his side in Durban.

Gelson Fernandes struck the only goal as Switzerland, executing coach Ottmar Hitzfeld's game-plan to perfection, beat Del Bosque's European champions 1-0 in the biggest surprise of the World Cup so far.

"I feel it's an excessive prize for them considering the football they displayed," said Del Bosque.

"They played a defensive game and tried to take advantage of any counter-attack and dead-ball situation.

"They did play well in defence.

"We came for the win and this time it has escaped us."

Hitzfeld, meanwhile, was all smiles after his team claimed their first win over Spain.

"I am fully aware that we have made history," he said.

"This will go down in the record books. The three points is a gift that we happily accept.

"It's a great feeling to start the tournament with three points against one of the biggest contenders for the title. These were three very unexpected points for us."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in