Honduras reaches the
meeting with an emotional boost. Despite losing to France (3-0) and Ecuador
(2-1), Carlo Costly scored against the Ecuadorians, which the Central American
team had failed to Spain in the World Cup since 1982, the first of three
editions which have been classified.
His return to the
citation was in South Africa 2010, where Honduras lost to Chile and Spain, and
ended with a draw against Switzerland without scoring a single goal.
"Hope is the last
thing to go, we know that Switzerland will be a difficult game because we know
very well how to play them," Costly said. "But we hope, faith in God
that everything will be okay, we cling to that."
In Switzerland,
meanwhile, a draw could be enough if France beats Ecuador.The Swiss came to
Brazil as top seed in its group, but after defeating Ecuador 2-1 in the
premiere suffered a demoralizing 5-2 defeat to the French.
The German strategist age 65 plans to retire after this World
Cup, but came into the tournament with the prospect of completing the group
stage.
Hitzfeld, twice winner
of the UEFA Champions League as coach, addressed to Switzerland for six years,
and rebuilt the team three years ago, after he failed to qualify for Euro
2012.The team that brought Brazil had lost only once in 18 games in the last
two years before the win against France.
Against Honduras, the Swiss will be without Steve von Bergen. The
central bone fractured face and the rest of the tournament will be lost.
