Swiss coach thanks Spain for the 'gift'

Switzerland basked in a maiden victory over World Cup favourites Spain yesterday with coach Ottmar Hitzfeld calling it a "gift" of three unexpected but highly valuable points.

"Our objective today was to have two compact rows of players, with two up front," said the German master tactician who guided Bayern Munich to seven Bundesliga titles and is one of just three coaches to win the Champions League with two different clubs (Bayern and Borussia Dortmund).

"I told them not to waste energy fighting for the ball, but focus on defence and wait for the counter-attack," he said.

"If you play attacking football against Spain, you'll concede one goal after another. We were well organised.

There weren't many chances in the first half, there was no fire burning in our box and that gave us confidence.

"In the second half, Spain launched one attack after another. We knew they had to open their defence a bit and we knew that there'd be a chance for a counter-attack. We also knew there wouldn't be that many chances."