Honduras aiming to provoke another Swiss miss

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AFP Manaus (Brazil)
Last Updated : Jun 24 2014 | 9:48 AM IST
Switzerland have a chance to put right their dramatic failure of 2010 tomorrow when they again face bogey team Honduras for a place in the World Cup knock-outs.
The situation is eerily similar to four years ago, when the Swiss were in contention for the last 16 but missed out when they drew their last group game with the Central American minnows.
This time around, having scaled the FIFA rankings to a dizzying sixth place, expectations are high for Ottmar Hitzfeld's respected side.
But confidence was hit in last week's 5-2 rout by France. Meanwhile, Honduras broke a 32-year World Cup finals goal drought in their 2-1 loss to Ecuador.
Midfielder Blerim Dzemaili said Switzerland would be taking nothing for granted when they face the Central Americans in steamy Manaus.
"Everyone can nurture big dreams, but first we have to do a little homework and that is to beat Honduras," said the 28-year-old.
"We have seen that the big teams just relying on individuals are quickly eliminated, which little Switzerland can't afford.
"We have to give our all together, like we did against France, but we also had some bad luck after they scored their early goals.
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First Published: Jun 24 2014 | 9:48 AM IST

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