Celebrations in the Swiss Alps
Thursday June 17, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

To many Swiss it was a surprise, others though always expected a win. Or so they said afterwards.

For the rest of us it is quite simply the biggest upset of The World Cup so far.

The Swiss are not normally known for showing their emotions but there's been quite a party going on.

Switzerland beat the bookies favourites and European Champions 1-0 in a hard fought match.

For much of the time they were defending but they absorbed everything the Spaniards had and when the final whistle went after an agonisingly long 5 minutes of extra time it was cue for celebrations.

Biggest shock so farSwitzerland has not won its opening match in a World Cup Finals since 1954 when the country beat Italy 2-1.

It was a messy goal in the 52nd minute after a goalless first half that was dominated by Spain.

After taking the lead the Swiss played well, keeping the Spanish at bay and even hitting the post in a counter-attack.

The win led to scenes of joy and patriotism across the country.

One major Swiss supermarket had promised 10% off anything in its stores on Thursday if Switzerland won.

We haven't heard but suspect the queues are long as people stock up to celebrate.

In The Parliament in Bern proceedings were put on hold so elected members, officials and staff could watch the last 15 minutes of the match as an historic Swiss victory became a distinct possibility. 

It was the same in banks and businesses as people looked away from their computer screens and became glued to the nearest TV screen instead.

"I kinda missed the game as I'm not very interesretd in the fottball but I heard a lot of shouting and then the disbelief that Switzerland had managed to beat Spain!!!" said Freddie, one of our PlanetSKI reporters from the Valais area of Switzerland. "It's all gone a bit crazy here."

The 2 teams have met 18 times before and Switzerland has never won.

One aspect of the game the crafty Swiss had practiced was getting used to the deafening din of vuvuzelas.

The team had an extra public training session at the team's base in South Africa and invited local fans along, knowing they would bring their plastic horns.

The manager said it would mean the players could get used to the constant noise and establish how to communicate on the pitch.

Perhaps it helped at the match in Durban.

The Swiss nation had been host to some of the World Cup Teams in advance of the finals as they came for altitude training and acclimatisation.

Many were in ski resorts.

We reported on it here on PlanetSKI and had a full report from Saas-Fee where the Japanese were staying.

We will bring you further news on the Swiss celebrations here on PlanetSKI as we get it.

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