Red card prompts Swiss ‘geez’ in loss to Chile

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This article was published 22/06/2010 (5948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — Chile moved closer to a spot in the knockout round of the World Cup when substitute Mark Gonzalez headed in the only goal in the 75th minute, giving the South Americans a 1-0 win Monday over 10-man Switzerland.

Gonzalez headed in a pass from Esteban Paredes, who had rounded the Switzerland defence and crossed to Gonzalez at the back post.

"We had some good luck near the end when we got the goal," Gonzalez said. "We just kept trying our best, trying hard, and we got the goal. This was a great moment for me and for our team."

No South American team has lost at this tournament — Chile, Brazil and Argentina have won both games while Uruguay and Paraguay have a win and a draw each.

Switzerland played a man down from the 31st minute, when midfielder Valon Behrami was sent off with a straight red card for violent conduct with Chile’s Arturo Vidal.

"For me, it was just an unbelievable decision," Behrami said. "There was small contact with my hands on his neck, and he went down like (he was hit with) an elbow. Everyone can make a mistake, but this mistake was very, very big for me because it’s a dream to play in a World Cup."

Vidal admitted he was surprised by the red card.

"I felt his elbow on my neck," Vidal said. "It was a definite yellow card, but I wasn’t expecting a send-off."

Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld agreed, saying said "the red card was not a red card by my standpoint" and accused the Chilean player of putting on "quite a performance."

"Getting a red card made it difficult to defend our goal for another 60 minutes, particularly against a team like Chile," Hitzfeld said. "The red card was not even a yellow card."

Before Chile scored, Switzerland set a World Cup record in the 69th minute, going 551 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal and breaking the mark of 550 set by Italy in 1986 and 1990.

— The Associated Press

Chile 0 1 — 1

Switzerland 0 0 — 0

First Half

No Scoring.

Second Half

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1. Chile, Mark Gonzalez 1, 75th minute.

Shots — Chile: 19; Switzerland: 6.

Shots On Goal — Chile: 6; Switzerland: 0.

Attendance — 34,872.