{"id":89422,"date":"2023-08-05T17:38:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T17:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/08\/05\/spain-put-five-past-switzerland-to-reach-last-eight\/"},"modified":"2023-08-05T17:38:47","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T17:38:47","slug":"spain-put-five-past-switzerland-to-reach-last-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/08\/05\/spain-put-five-past-switzerland-to-reach-last-eight\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain put five past Switzerland to reach last eight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Spain enjoyed 70% possession against Switzerland, the highest possession rate of any team in a knockout game at the last four editions of the Women’s World Cup
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Spain reached the quarter-finals of the Women\u2019s World Cup for the first time after producing an outstanding display of firepower to send Switzerland out.<\/p>\n

La Roja were beaten 4-0 in their final group game by Japan five days earlier in Wellington but bounced back in style to score four times during a dominant first-half showing in front of 43,217 \u2013 a record crowd for a football match in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Aitana Bonmati swept the Spanish ahead before Switzerland equalised when Laia Codina, without looking up, hit a back pass past her own keeper and into the net from 10 yards inside her own half.<\/p>\n

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Spain soon restored their lead through Alba Redondo\u2019s header before Barcelona midfielder Bonmati produced a classy finish to make it 3-1.<\/p>\n

In an incredible opening half, Codina made up for her own goal by adding Spain\u2019s fourth after a scramble inside the box.<\/p>\n

\"Aitana<\/figure>\n

Spain have scored 13 goals in four games at the Women\u2019s World Cup<\/em><\/p>\n

They added another after half-time through Jennifer Hermoso\u2019s clinical finish \u2013 her third goal of this tournament.<\/p>\n

Jorge Vilda\u2019s side are the first to reach the last eight and will play the winners of Sunday\u2019s match between the Netherlands and South Africa in the quarter-finals in Wellington next Friday (02:00 BST).<\/p>\n

Spain hit back after Japan defeat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spain produced the perfect response after being written off following the\u00a04-0 hammering against Japan.<\/p>\n

Boss Vilda promised a response from his players after that comprehensive defeat and he got one as the side ranked sixth in the world got the job done before half-time in Auckland.<\/p>\n

Vilda responded to the Japan defeat by making five changes, giving a debut to goalkeeper Cata Coll in place of first-choice Misa Rodriguez, who had started the previous three games in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Coll will not have appreciated the wild back pass by her Barcelona team-mate Codina.<\/p>\n

That aside, this was a highly impressive performance for a team that came into this World Cup with a cloud of doubt hanging over the squad after a feud between Vilda and many senior players.<\/p>\n

Those differences have been put aside for now and Spain look like a team playing in harmony. This was their third win in four games in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"Spain's<\/figure>\n

Spain enjoyed 70% possession against Switzerland, the highest possession rate of any team in a knockout game at the last four editions of the Women\u2019s World Cup<\/em><\/p>\n

One step too far for Switzerland<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was one game too many for Group A winners Switzerland, who had qualified for the knockout stage despite winning one game out of the three and scoring two goals in 270 minutes.<\/p>\n

Ten of the starting XI at Eden Park were starting their fourth game after three successive clean sheets yet they were overwhelmed by their opponents.<\/p>\n

Swiss boss Inka Grings had said that finding goals was a priority in training yet they struggled to trouble Spain\u2019s defence and registered just one attempt on target.<\/p>\n

They head home from their second Fifa Women\u2019s World Cup having topped a group containing Norway, co-hosts New Zealand and the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Having required a 121st-minute winner in a play-off against Wales in Zurich to qualify, their World Cup ended in disappointing fashion, with their players looking crestfallen as they walked around the pitch applauding fans after full time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team has invested everything at this tournament and I am very proud of them,\u201d said Grings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing I would change and I would select the same players again. There is nothing my players did wrong. They played a really good tournament. Maybe we should have been more defensive against Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Switzerland's<\/figure>\n

This was Switzerland\u2019s heaviest-ever defeat at the Fifa Women\u2019s World Cup and saw them concede as many goals as they had across all their seven previous games at the tournament<\/em><\/p>\n

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