Stylish Swiss roll into the last 16

SWITZERLAND kept politics off the field and Costa Rica broke their World Cup duck in a thrilling draw that saw the Swiss set up a last-16 match against Sweden.

Pre-match attention had focused on Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri’s politicised “eagle” celebrations in their last game, and Costa Rica being the only team without a tournament goal.

But this time the Swiss kept their focus purely on their game and took a 31st-minute lead when Blerim Dzemaili blasted home, above.

Costa Rica twice hit the woodwork in a frustrating opening 15 minutes of missed

SWITZERLAND

chances. But they finally scored their first goal when defender Kendall Waston powered home Joel Campbell’s corner in the 56th minute, triggering mass celebrations as if they had won the trophy.

Swiss substitute Josip Drmic drilled home his team’s second in the 88th minute, before Bryan Ruiz struck a stoppage-time penalty that hit the crossbar and went in off goalkeeper Yann Sommer’s back.

There was a sour note for the Swiss, however, when captain Stephan Lichtsteiner, who supplied the cross for their first goal, took a second yellow card, meaning he will miss the knockout clash with Sweden on Tuesday.

Switzerland, driven on by the inventive Shaqiri, ended Group E as runners-up to Brazil, who beat Serbia 2-0.

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