A rampant Switzerland reached the World Cup knockout stage and will locks horns with Argentina in the round-of-16 after a superb Xherdan Shaqiri hat-trick gave them a 3-0 win over Honduras on Wednesday.
The result in no way flattered a resilient Switzerland, who bounced back from their 5-2 drubbing by France to finish behind them in Group E, while third-placed Ecuador and Honduras were eliminated.
It was a memorable match for Kosovo-born forward Shaqiri, who scored the 50th hat-trick in World Cup history and the second of this year’s tournament after Germany’s Thomas Mueller netted three against Portugal.
“Whenever you reach the second round it is a great motivation and we are highly motivated,” Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld told a press conference. “We are going to write history and we have already written history with the three goals today.”
Shaqiri linked up brilliantly with striker Josip Drmic, who set up two of the goals after he was preferred to Haris Seferovic in the starting lineup.
However, the opener was entirely of the 22-year-old’s own making as he shook of his marker and unleashed a thunderbolt into the top-left corner which left Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares rooted to the spot.
He made it 2-0 on the half-hour mark, steering the ball past Valladares after he was released by Drmic, who missed two chances in the closing stages of the first half with Honduras constantly on the back foot.
Honduras, cheered by most neutral fans, were more purposeful early in the second half and nearly pulled one back when Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez cleared Jerry Bengtson’s shot off the line.
It was a wake-up call for Switzerland and Shaqiri went close to adding a third, forcing another good save from Valladares, before Honduras had a penalty claim waved away after Jerry Palacios went down under a challenge from Johan Djourou.
Spurred by Mexican waves on the terraces, Honduras threw men forward and were caught cold in the 71st minute when Drmic’s good work down the left flank presented Shaqiri with a simple finish from close range.
Diego Benaglio kept out a close-range Bengtson header in the closing stages as the tempo dropped in searing heat, which did not stop pockets of Switzerland fans celebrating long after the final whistle.
Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez said he had decided to quit after the defeat.
“I am not satisfied by what we achieved at the World Cup... I think the team will have good results in the future, but I think someone can replace me and produce different results,” Suarez said. “Today is the last day of my contract and I have taken the decision unilaterally not to continue.”
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