UEFA Nations League: Eric Garcia Prints Suicide Goals, Spain Takes 1-2 From Switzerland

Spanish national team (Twitter @SeFutbol)

JAKARTA - The Spanish national team had to lose 1-2 at home to Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League Group 1 continued in La Romareda on Sunday morning WIB.

Spain fell behind in the first half through Manuel Akanji's goal. They then equalized thanks to Jordi Alba's goal before Eric Garcia scored an own goal in the second half.

This was Spain's first defeat in the group and made them drop to second in the standings with 8 points. Meanwhile Switzerland sits in third place with 6 points, quoted from Antara.

🏁 ¡¡FINAL DEL PARTIDO EN ZARAGOZA!!Lo intentamos hasta el último segundo, pero caemos por la mínima ante Suiza.¡¡Viajaremos a Portugal para luchar por el pase a la Final Four y solo nos vale GANAR!!🇪🇸 🆚 🇨🇭 | 1-2 | 90+5’#VamosEspaña | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/z3RC5TnlK3

— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) September 24, 2022

Spain trailed two points from Portugal who won 4-0 over the Czech Republic and is now top of the table. The two teams met in Lisbon on Wednesday, September 28 in the morning WIB.

Switzerland surprisingly took the initiative to attack to pressure Spain. Despite winning possession, the home team found it difficult to penetrate the Swiss defense.

Switzerland have threatened Unai Simon's goal several times. As a result, in the 21st minute, Switzerland was able to open the scoring through Manuel Akanji's header after continuing Ruben Vargas's corner.

The Manchester City defender stood at the far post and was able to beat Cesar Azplicueta in an air duel before the ball found Unai Simon's goal. The score became 1-0.

Switzerland almost scored in the 43rd minute. Xherdan Shaqiri easily passed Pau Torres and Jordi Alba, before shooting into a tight corner that Unai Simon could deny.

Until the first half was over, Spain remained 0-1 behind.

In the second half, Spain immediately kicked off looking for a equaliser in the 55th minute.

Marco Asensio started with a solo run from the right and entered until he approached the penalty box. He was able to attract Swiss players to look after him before sending a short pass to Jordi Alba who overlapsed. The Barcelona left-back then fired a hard shot into the top right corner of Yann Sommer's goal. The position is 1-1.

However, the score only lasted four minutes because Switzerland took the lead again. Through a corner kick scheme, Korneraj headed into the penalty box and was headed by Akanji towards Embolo.

Embolo cheated on the ball and had time to touch Eric Garcia before entering. Switzerland turned 2-1 up.

This goal made Spain even more intense against Switzerland, but their goal almost broke again two minutes later. Unai Simon failed to clear the air ball because he lost in a duel withkk. Luckily the ball was cleared right on the line by Garcia and Torres.

Spain included Yeremi Pino, Nico Wlliams, and Borja Iglesias to sharpen the attack line. However, Spain's efforts paid no result and the score remained 2-1 for Switzerland's victory.

Line-up: Spanyo (4-3-3)l: Unai Simon; Jordi Alba, Pau Torres, Eric Garcia, Cesar Azpilicueta (Carlos Soler 87'); Pedri (Marcos Llorente 70'), Sergio Busquets, Gavi; Pablo Sarabia (Nico Williams 63'), Marco Asensio (Borja Iglesias 63'), Ferran Torres (Yeremi Pino 63').

Switzerland (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer; Silvan Widmer, Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez (Renato Steffen 45'); Saro Freuler, Granit Xhaka; Djjibril Sow (Denis Zakaria 68'), Xherdan Shaqiri (Dan Ndeye 68'), Rubenajman (Michel Aebucher 79'); Breel Embolo (Haris Seferovic 87')