BRASILIA, Brazil – Haris Seferovic scored a dramatic to give Switzerland a 2-1 win over Ecuador in their Group E opener, Sunday at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Ecuador’s Enner Valencia opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. Admir Mehdmidi equalized for the Swiss in the 48th minute, after coming on as a substitute.
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Switzerland, the top seed in the group and No. 6 in the FIFA rankings, did most of the attacking at Estadio Nacional but lacked a cutting edge in probably the tournament’s most disappointing game so far.
Xherdan Shaqiri came closest for the Swiss after feinting past two defenders and having a shot saved.
Fans upset with long security lines
Thousands of World Cup fans have missed the first part of the Switzerland-Ecuador World Cup game in Brazil’s capital of Brasilia because of long lines to pass through security.
Ticket-holding fans fumed as the game started and they were still outside the stadium Sunday afternoon. The stadium still had lots of seats empty when Ecuador scored in the 22nd minute to take a 1-0 lead.
There was no immediate explanation from authorities for why it took so long for fans to pass through security.
Before the World Cup started last week, FIFA officials repeatedly encouraged fans to arrive early so they could clear stadium security and make it to their seats by game time.
All fans managed to enter the stadium before the end of the game’s first half.
Starting Lineups:
Switzerland: Diego Benaglio, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Ricardo Rodriguez, Steve Von Bergen, Johan Djourou, Gokhan Inler, Valon Behrami, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Valentin Stocker, Josip Drmic.
Ecuador: Alexander Dominguez, Juan Carlos Paredes, Walter Ayovi, Jorge Guagua, Fricson Erazo, Antonio Valencia, Christian Noboa, Carlos Gruezo, Jefferson Montero, Felipe Caicedo, Enner Valencia.
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