Spain v Switzerland

TEAM NEWS

Spain striker Fernando Torres is likely to play a part off the bench as he is eased back after a knee injury, so Vicente del Bosque could opt for a five-man midfield with David Villa playing as a lone striker.
Andres Iniesta is winning his fitness battle and may start, so Cesc Fabregas is likely be on the bench.
Switzerland are missing captain Alex Frei, who has an ankle injury, so Eren Derdiyok will take his place in attack.
West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami has also been ruled out by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

MATCH PREVIEW

Spain and Switzerland are the last two teams to get their World Cup campaign under way and, having watched the quality of matches that have gone before them, the Spaniards must be licking their lips in anticipation at the prospect of unleashing their attacking geniuses in South Africa.
David Villa is nicknamed 'El Guaje', and Fernando Torres has long gone by the monicker of 'El Nino' - both mean 'the kid' but there is nothing green about the Spanish strikers on the international stage.
Del Bosque's side can quite rightly feel aggrieved that they enter the World Cup ranked only second in the world and as the second favourites to win the tournament behind Brazil. After all, the have won 45 of their last 48 matches and are the reigning European champions. They have played more World Cup matches than any other nation without actually winning the trophy. They may never get a better chance than this one.
The Swiss are lead by legendary manager Ottmar Hitzfeld and they will be quietly confident that his nous and experience can help steer them into second place in Group H. Remarkably, they were knocked out of the last World Cup at the second-round stage without conceding a single goal in the tournament. Given the quality of opposition they face on Wednesday, they would be absolutely delighted if they could last 90 minutes with a nil in the against column.

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Spain and Switzerland have met 18 times in international football. Spain have won 15, Switzerland none and there have been three draws.
- This match will feature two of the five coaches to have won the Champions League twice: Switzerland's Hitzfeld and Spain's Del Bosque.

SPAIN
- Spain have played the most World Cup matches without ever lifting the trophy (49).
- On 29 May 2010, Carlos Marchena broke the world record held by Brazilian Garrincha for players who have played in the most successive international matches without defeat. The 3-2 friendly victory against Saudi Arabia was his 50th international match in a row without suffering a loss.
- Spain have won 27 of their last 28 international matches. Their only defeat in their last 48 games came in a 2-0 reverse to the USA at the 2009 Confederations Cup.

SWITZERLAND
- They have not won their opening match at the World Cup since 1954, when they beat Italy 2-1.
- Switzerland are the only nation ever to be knocked out of a World Cup without conceding a single goal (in the second round in 2006).
- Prior to these four consecutive clean sheets, they had failed to keep one in all 22 of their previous World Cup matches.

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Assistants: Darren Cann & Michael Mullarkey (England)
Fourth official: Martin Hansson (Sweden)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_16/default.stm

this one should be a great game, open play, picking spain to win 3-1

No�holes in the Swiss defence tonight.Time for a�Spanish inqusition.

Wow. Shock of the World Cup so far.