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Switzerland have failed to win their final game in the group stage, however their 2-2 victory will be enough to see the Swiss through to the knock-out rounds.
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A courageous Costa Rican performance earned themselves their first goals and point of the tournament but still finished last in their group – having been defeated by both Serbia and Brazil. Switzerland weren’t truly in danger, primarily because of Brazil’s strong performance against Serbia.
Switzerland will take on surprise packets Sweden in the next round, while Brazil will face Mexico. Both Sweden and Mexico were surprise qualifiers from their group, with current world champions Germany finishing last after a loss to South Korea.
The Swiss will be aiming for a better performance against their European counterparts as the Central American nation caused their opponents many headaches defensively.
They will be without captain Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schaer as both received their second yellow cards of the tournaments. As of result ultimately half of their back four will be unavailable, causing more problems for the land of Swiss army knives and chocolate.
There is room for improvement and the Swedish will test the Swiss’ credentials, especially as they come off the complete annihilation of Mexico which saw them leap from third to first in Group F.
As for Costa Rica, they will be disappointed considering how deep they went in the previous World Cup – going all the way to the quarter finals.
Their 93-minute penalty was well taken and shows the quality of the nation, which has a population roughly the same size as Sydney.
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas was stellar throughout, but despite some solid performances the Central Americans just did not have the quality in what emerged as a relatively strong group.
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