Switzerland vs Ecuador live scores, odds, results – Soccer, Football FIFA World Cup 2014

The first game in Group E pits Switzerland against Ecuador at the Estadio Nacional. Ecuador are no pushovers, with Switzerland coach Ottmmar Hitzfeld warning his side not to take the South Americans lightly. However, Switzerland were no slouches in qualifying, scoring a very respectable 24 goals along the way, finishing ahead of Iceland, Slovenia and Norway. Fabian Schaer is one to watch, having scored 3 goals during the qualifiers for the Swiss.

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Ecuador are doubly motivated for this World Cup and understandably so. At the tender age of just 27, Christian “Chucho” Benitez was tragically struck down with a cardiac arrest. The national reaction was touching, with thousands lining the streets of Quito, where his body was carried to the Ruminahui Coliseum. His best friend, Antonio Valencia has a tattoo in his shoulder in remembrance of him, and the national team actually retired the number 11 shirt as a mark of remembrance and tribute.

Back to present day and Ecuadorians, perhaps the biggest underdogs in the whole tournament are vowing to put on a display that pays due respect to Christian Benitez. After having made Antonio Valencia captain of Ecuador, Reinaldo Rueda called upon the team to make sure they stayed focused and gave everything they had in memory of their team mate. Now however, they seem to be struggling to fill the hole left by a goalscorer of Chucho’s proficiency, with goals hard to find.

Ecuador are a team that can penetrate quickly and accurately, but unfortunately, as is the curse with many “almost-there” teams, they lack the deadly finish in the final third with Caicedo and Enner Valencia under-performing so far. Switzerland will be hoping to exploit the sluggishness in Ecuador’s back line which tends to sit deep at the moment, firstly due to the lack of an experienced centre-half and secondly because of older, slower players.

Ecuador are used to playing their home matches at around 3000 feet above sea level, which is perhaps the reason that they took seven home wins from eight in qualifying. Switzerland will not be fazed by this record however, as Ecuador’s away form is lamentable, producing 5 defeats and 3 draws in 8 games. Switzerland also got off to a flying start at the 2010 world cup, with a shock win over Spain. They can also boast one of the stingiest defenses in the world, having let in only one goal in their last seven World Cup matches.

Ottmar Hitzfeld has sensationally claimed that he would like to “make history in Brazil” by taking the side to its first ever quarter finals. He has urged caution however, stating wisely: “First of all we most overcome the group stage. Then we will see”. This evening’s encounter promises to be one of high emotion on the part of the Ecuadorians, with the Swiss likely to be doing most of the attacking. The general opinion however, is the the Ecuadorians may find this slightly out of reach, owing to the fact that they lack a striker with any real killer insinct.

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