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Saturday success for Swiss Express

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Saturday success for Swiss Express
Saturday success for Swiss Express
Saturday success for Swiss Express

Stephan Lichtsteiner captained Switzerland to a 1-0 victory against Albania in their first group game of Euro 2016 on Saturday.

The winning goal came as early as the fifth minute when Fabian Schar headed home Xherdan Shaqiri’s cross and Albania faced even more of an uphill battle from the 36th minute when Lorik Cana was sent off.

The result puts Switzerland level with France at the top of Group A on three points.

Across the Atlantic meanwhile, Juan Cuadrado’s Colombia, already qualified for the Copa America quarter-finals, were beaten 3-2 by Costa Rica in their final group match.

While Frank Fabra and Marlos Moreno netted for a much-changed team, for whom Cuadrado came on only as a 66th minute substitute, Jose Nestor Pekerman’s men ended up conceding three times courtesy of Johan Venegas and Celso Borges strikes either side of Fabra’s own goal.

The result allowed the United States, who beat Paraguay, to leapfrog Colombia into first place in the group ahead of the impending quarter-finals.

Today sees two further Bianconeri involved in international action as Mario Mandzukic prepares to lead the line for Croatia against Turkey (kick-off 15.00 CEST) and Sami Khedira’s Germany get ready to face Ukraine (kick-off 21.00) in their respective Euro 2016 opening encounters.

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