Emiljan Vila nearly authored an impressive own goal with his own keeper approaching to grab the ball, but his Albanian teammate and captian Lorik Cana read the spin on the awful bounce to head off the goal line. In the final ten minutes, Albania were able to put the game away. The second goal came when the Cyprus goalkeeper ran to punch a cross and missed, allowing a soft backward header by Edgar Cani to go into the goal. The clincher came on a rocket from around thirty yards by Erjon Bogdani that found its target in the upper ninety. Albania win 3-1.
Switzerland found themselves in Ljubjlana in their matchup against hosts Slovenia in the Group E matchup of the day. The two are the only two South Africa 2010 participants in the group. Surprisingly, it were the visitors who dominated the match, with their superiority leading to an opening goal after twenty minutes. Eren Derdiyok laid a ball off from Granit Xhaka. Ten minutes later, a bad turnover in their own box by Slovenia allowed Derdiyok a look from a bouncing ball, but he put his shot into the underside of the crossbar and could not extend the lead. Slovenia then found their footing, but Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio saved their best chance with his knee.
In the first effort of the half, Gokhan Inler struck a bomb from thirty-three yards to extend the Swiss lead to 2-0. Tranquillo Barnetta was given his marching orders for his second yellow card in minute 76, leaving Switzerland down a man in their search to finish the match with a win. Slovenia nearly really threatened again despit their numerical advantage, so Switzerland win 2-0 on the road to open their campaign.
Norway, nominally the top seed in the group but in reality the third favorite, visited Reykjavik to face fellow Scandinavians Iceland. Norway had the first chance, but a low Mohammed Abdellaoue volley off a cross from the side of the box was pushed to safety by Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson. Norway did the unthinkable four minutes later, allowing a long throw-in to land inside their six-yard box, setting up a goal off a mishit touch due to its proximity to the goalmouth. Iceland had their fans believing and cheering a 1-0 lead. A Gylfi Sigurdsson free kick almost made its way into Norway's net on accident when no one got a touch to the cross, but it connected with the post and bounced away.
Norway thought they had found an equalizer with fifteen minutes to go when Joshua King blasted a ball into the goal, but his strike had struck an offside teammate on its flight toward the goal. Five minutes later, Norway were caught too far upfield, and a through ball from midfield allowed Iceland substitute Alfred Finnbogason to face the goalkeeper without any pressure. A cool finish sealed the match for the home side. King rocked the crossbar in stoppage time, but the result would not have been altered even if he had scored. Iceland win 2-0 in upset fashion.
Goals
Albania
Michael Constantinou 35 OG
Edgar Cani 84
Erjon Bogdani 87
Cyprus
Vincent Laban 45+2
Switzerland
Granit Xhaka 20
Gokhan Inler 51
Iceland
Kari Arnason 21
Alfred Finnbogason 81
Match Reports:
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008634/postmatch/report/
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1697247/index.html
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1697324/index.html
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYbSzu9ZmYM (Albania v. Cyprus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZMQlfVF3Q&feature=related (Switzerland v. Slovenia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQPkAm_gMXI (Iceland v. Norway)
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