Chile capitalise as dubious red card wrecks Swiss

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP):

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 yesterday 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."

Putting on 'a performance'

Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld agreed, saying "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. Of course I was angry."

Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa said he "didn't actually see what was happening from my position".

Before Chile scored, Switzerland set a World Cup record in the 69th, going 551 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. That broke the previous mark of 550 held by Italy at the 1986 and 1990 tournaments.

The last goal the Swiss allowed came on July 2, 1994 when they were eliminated 3-0 by Spain in the second round. Aitor Begiristain scored the last goal from a penalty kick in the 87th minute.

Switzerland substitute Eren Derdiyok nearly equalised in the 90th but sent his shot wide as the Swiss put on late pressure.

The win gives Chile six points and first place in Group H. Switzerland, which upset European champions Spain 1-0 in their opening match, have three.

"We are in a good position and we have one more game to prove ourselves even more," Gonzalez said of Friday's match against Spain at Pretoria.

Hitzfeld said he was confident of Switzerland advancing.

"I'm sure that if we win against Honduras, we will qualify for the round of 16," he said of Friday's match at Bloemfontein.

Line-ups:

Chile: Claudio Bravo, Waldo Ponce, Mauricio Isla, Carlos Carmona, Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal (Mark Gonzalez 46), Humberto Suazo (Jorge Valdivia 46), Matias Fernandez (Esteban Paredes 65), Jean Beausejour, Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara.

Switzerland: Diego Benaglio, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Steven Von Bergen, Benjamin Huggel, Gokhan Inler, Alex Frei (Tranquillo Barnetta 42), Blaise Nkufo (Eren Derdiyok 68), Valon Behrami, Stephane Grichting, Gelson Fernandes (Albert Bunkjaku 77), Reto Ziegler.