Five minutes after the restart, Ruud was soundly beaten again on a run by Schar to win the header off a free kick. Schar and Ruud were the only ones not standing still on the play, but Schar was able to head a bouncer between the goalkeeper's legs for his second goal of the night. The kick-taker? Inler, again from the left side of the pitch. Tom Hogli then had to come off due to an injury for Norway. The deficit was too much for the home side to overcome. Switzerland win 2-0 and are within striking distance of reaching the FIFA World Cup finals the next matchday.
Cyprus were at home in Nicosia to take on Slovenia. Zlatan Ljubijankic rolled a slow cross just ahead of three Cypriot defenders, the last two of whom never saw the ball. The ball was met by the foot of Milivoje Novakovic for the easy finish and a 1-0 lead to the visitors. Vincent Laban had a powerful attempt at an equalizer batted aside by Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovich. Slovenia led 1-0 at the break.
With ten minutes to go, Novakovic slowly dribbled inside the Cypriot penalty area to draw both nearby defenders before pushing a pass to his right to Josip Ilicic. Ilicic provided the simple finish. Slovenia win 2-0. The loss proved to be the final straw for Cyprus, and they are now eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Albania made the trip north to Reykjavik to clash with Iceland. Gylfi Sigurdsson nearly provided a stunning opener five minutes in on a twirling side volley attempt, but a flying save by Albania goalkeeper Etrit Berisha denied him. Valoet Rama gave the Albanians the lead when his hesitation dribble-cut in combination freed himself for a low drive from twenty yards that pounded the net. Five minutes later, Iceland were level. Albania defender Admir Teli swung and missed while off-balance at a rolling cross along the Albanian six-yard box. Birkir Bjarnason said "thank you very much" and preceded to cash in the gift for the equalizer. The two sides went into the break even at one goal apiece.
Birkir Saevarsson wasted no time coming out of the locker room to initiate an Icelandic goal-scoring sequence. His drove up the right side, got into the box, and then passed to the near post. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson used his outstretched toe to redirect the pass into the goal and make it 2-1 in favor of the hosts. For an Iceland team used to high-scoring matches, one would have doubted the score to remain in place for over forty minutes, but that is how the match ended. Iceland win 2-1 and move into sole possession of second place in Group E.
Switzerland 18 pts +9
Iceland 13 pts 0
Slovenia 12 pts +1
Norway 11 pts
Albania 10 pts -1
Cyprus OUT
Goals
Switzerland
Fabian Schar 12, 51
Slovenia
Milivoje Novakovic 12
Josip Ilicic 80
Iceland
Birkir Bjarnason 14
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson 47
Albania
Valoet Rama 9
Match Reports:
http://bostonherald.com/sports/revolution_soccer/soccer/2013/09/switzerland_wins_2_0_at_norway_in_wcup_qualifier
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2013/9/10/4715850/switzerland-norway-2014-world-cup-qualifying-final-score-result
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008642/postmatch/report/index.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-slovenia-beat-cyprus-stay-qualifying-contention-205047685--sow.html
http://au.eurosport.com/football/world-cup/2014/iceland-beat-albania-2-1-to-keep-brazil-dream-alive_sto3918782/story.shtml
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008644/postmatch/report/index.html
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4HfvfYItiE (Switzerland v. Norway)
http://espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video?id=1549383&cc=5901 (Slovenia v. Cyprus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8V36-GkSa8 (Iceland v. Albania)
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