A lot of unanswered questions remained after this England performance, the latest friendly international, and although the result went their way, the manner in which it was achieved left a good deal to be desired. With the World Cup in Chile now only a couple of weeks away, England were looking for confidence-boosting performances in their remaining friendlies.

It all began well enough and in the first 20 minutes, all seemed fine. Johnny Haynes immediately took control of the midfield and soon England were ahead. Haynes tapped a free-kick sideways to Ron Flowers, who cracked in a fierce shot which took a slight deflection on its way past Permunian and into the Swiss net.

Shortly afterwards it looked even better as Gerry Hitchens expertly converted a Bobby Charlton pass. A loss in concentration then allowed Switzerland the chance to pull a goal back, Allemann scoring for them, but then John Connelly restored the two-goal advantage by heasding in a long cross from Flowers. With Hitchens and Jimmy Greaves both hitting the woodwork, there seemed little room for complaint.

Inexplicably, it was about this time, with ten minutes of the first half still to go, that England began to struggle. Bobby Robson looked a pale shadow of his former self and that left far too much for Haynes to do. As a result, the Swiss team gained in confidence and began to win most of the midfield possession. They ended the half well on top, making a mockery of the 3-1 scoreline.

Watching from an England point of view the second half seemed uncomfortably endless. The team just could not get going. Peter Swan struggled, Charlton mixed the brilliant with the abysmal and the whole side looked jaded and tired. Perhaps the early two-goal lead had made the players lose their grip but whatever it was it must be corrected before the following month's big tournament.

There were some good performances from the home players and Ron Springett was outstanding. He made brilliant second-half saves from Vonlanthen, Allemann, Eschmann and Allemann again, all from close range. Allemann was. without doubt, the man-of-the-match and was a constant thorn in the England defence.

Switzerland also played better after Stettler had substituted for Permunian in goal, and their neat, clever play gave England many problems. Another near miss came when Jimmy Armfield cleared a shot off the line.

Apart from Springett, Flowers and Ray Wilson were in splendid form and always tackled tigerishly. It was just as well because the way the home team wearily trudged off at the end, it would seem that any thoughts of winning the World Cup at this moment should have been totally forgotten.
  

Only a series of stunning saves by Ron Springett saved England from defeat after they had swept to a 3-1 lead in the first half hour with goals from Ron Flowers, Gerry Hitchens and John Connelly. Hitchens and Greaves smacked shots against the woodwork, but England became caught in the clutches of complacency and the Swiss staged a second-half revival that brought the best out of Springett. The major concern for England - with the World Cup finals looming - was that the 'Dynamic Duo' of Johnny Haynes and Bobby Robson had lost their powers of command. Suddenly, the shadow of the selectors' axe hung over Robson, who had given a procession of brilliant performances during the peak moments of his 20-cap career. Now a new young player was challenging for his place. His name: Bobby Moore.
  

Switzerland had produced the shock of the World Cup qualifying matches by coming from behind to knock out the 1958 finalists Sweden in a play-off in Berlin. They had beaten England twice before, the last occasion in 1947 by the only goal in Zurich. Their only previous visit to England 18 months later saw them thrashed 6-0 at Highbury. England had just lost the British Championship, for the first time in 11 years, to Scotland.
England went ahead when a free kick from Haynes was turned in by Flowers. Within a minute it was 2-0, as Gerry Hitchens scored from Charlton's cross. Switzerland replied when Anton Allemann smartly beat Springett. But four minutes later, a long ball from Flowers was headed in by John Connelly. Despite their lead England failed to impress and there were no further goals.
Switzerland failed to win a point in the World Cup in Chile while England only reached the quarter-finals on goal average ahead of Argentina. They were beaten by the holders, and eventual winners, Brazil. The following year England had a crushing 8-1 win over Switzerland in Basle.
     

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG