Hitzfeld tips France as one of favorites
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, June 22, 2014
Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld says France deserve to be one of the World Cup favorites after the Swiss were left to rue a "bleak day" in their 5-2 drubbing.
France tops Group E while Switzerland and Ecuador both have three points. Honduras has zero after two games.
The Swiss were floored by two goals within 66 seconds of each other as a Blaise Matuidi strike followed an Olivier Giroud header to make it 2-0 to France with 20 minutes gone in Salvador, Brazil.
Karim Benzema made up for missing a first-half penalty by netting the fourth after right-winger Mathieu Valbuena had put France 3-0 up at the break.
Midfielder Moussa Sissoko's strike left the French 5-0 up after 75 minutes before two late Swiss goals from Blerim Dzemaili and Granit Xhaka.
Only the heroics of Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio prevented more damage in the key Group E clash.
"I'm very disappointed by our defeat, it was a very bleak day for us," rued Hitzfeld.
"We were aware that we needed to take the game to them, but if you are chasing things, France have excellent individual players.
"They are one of the teams who can go very far in this tournament, they are superior to the likes of England or Italy."
