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288 vs. Belgium Party
289
290 vs. Uruguay Party
Sunday, 20 June 1954
The Championnat du Monde de Football Finals First Phase Pool D

England 2 Switzerland 0 [1-0]
Match Summary
England Party
Switzerland Party

Team Records
 
X
The Switzerland World Cup Finals Party Pre-England  June 1954
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G
15. Antenen, Charles 3 November 1929 24 IR FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 26 13
16. Ballaman, Robert 21 June 1926 27 IL Grasshopper Club 21 9
8. Bigler, Heinz 21 December 1925 28 LHB BSC Young Boys 3 0
4. Bocquet, Roger 19 April 1921 33 LB Lausanne-Sports 45 2
9. Casali, Charles 27 April 1923 31 M BSC Young Boys 15 1
10. Eggimann, Olivier 28 January 1919 35 CHB FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 37 0
1. Eich, Walter 27 May 1925 29 Gk BSC Young Boys 5 18ᵍᵃ
11. Eschmann, Norbert 19 September 1933
in Besançon, France
20 M FC Lausanne Sports 0 0
17. Fatton, Jacques 19 December 1925 28 OL Servette FC 49 28
12. Fesselet, Gilbert 16 April 1928 26 D FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 2 0
5. Flückiger, Marcel 20 June 1929 34 D BSC Young Boys 3 0
13. Frosio, Ivo 27 April 1930 24 M Grasshopper Club 7 0
18. Hügi, Joséf 23 January 1930 24 F FC Basel 12 6
14. Kernen, Wilhelm 6 August 1929 24 RHB FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 15 1
6. Mathis, Roger 4 April 1921 33 RB FC Lausanne Sports 1 0
19. Mauron, Marcel 25 March 1929 25 F FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 3 1
20. Meier, Eugen 30 April 1930 24 CF BSC Young Boys 6 1
7. Neury, André 3 September 1921 32 RB Servette FC 25 0
2. Parlier, Eugéne 13 February 1929 25 Gk Servette FC 4 5ᵍᵃ
21. Riva, Ferdinando 3 July 1930 23 F FC Chiasso 6 4
3. Stuber, Georges 11 May 1925 29 Gk FC Lausanne-Sports 13 31ᵍᵃ
22. Vonlanthen, Roger 5 December 1930 23 OL Grasshopper Club 10 3

Party details correct up to
and including Switzerland's match against Italy on 17 June 1954.

Diary
 
FIFA retained the mini-league system but couldn't resist a little tinkering. Instead of each team playing all the others in the groups, two were seeded and would play only the two non-seeds - and any matches drawn after ninety minutes would go to extra-time. Arbitrary and confusing.
Cris Freddi's Complete Book of the World Cup

17 June 1954 - Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - 43,000 - Mário Vianna (BRZ)
   
    SWITZERLAND (1) 2
     Ballaman 18, Hügi 78
    ITALY (1) 1
   
 Boniperti 44

SWITZERLAND Eugène Parlier, André Neury, Roger Bocquet (c), Willy Kernan, Marcel Flückiger, Charles Casali, Robert Ballaman, Roger Vonlathen, Josef Hügi, Eugen Meier, Jacky Fatton, Karl Rappen (AUT).
ITALY Giorgio Ghezzi, Guido Vincenzi, Giovanni Giacomazzi, Maino Neri, Ornero Tognon, Fulvio Nesti, Ernes Muccinelli, Giampiero Bonipert (c), Carlo Galli, Egisto Pandolfini, Benito Lorenzi. Lajos Czeizler (HUN).

Lorenzi was fit this time, and Italy deserved to be seeded - nut again there were problems behind the scenes. They dominated possession in the first half but went behind when Fatton's cross from the left was met by Ballaman's powerful header that dipped across the keeper from twelve yards out. As always, the Swiss were defensive but good on the break.
   Italy equalised from a left-wing cross that fell loose in a crowded penalty area. Boniperti, who spent a decade not quite living up to a gold boy tag, lunged in to score despite an ankle swollen by Flückiger's tackle. Play became rough as both teams realised the balding Vianna was a bulldog without a bite. Lorenzi put in a rebound from close range only to be given offside, a decision that looks correct enough on film. Vianna had to push Italian players off with his hands and needed police protection from Lorenzi after the match.
   Parlier pushed a shot onto the base of a post before Switzerland scored the winner when Giacomazzi's back-header fell to Hügi, who scored with a low cross-shot.
Cris Freddi's Complete Book of the World Cup

Sunday, 20 June 1954 -  
With England in dire need of a goal, Taylor headed the ball on, Mullen darted past his fullback, went round Parlier, and never played for England again. No surprise there. Wilshaw's goal was just as good, a dribble past three players after he 'suddenly remembered his bodyswerve.' But Staniforth had to ckear off the line from Ballaman (the ball seemed to cross the line), Fatton had a goal disallowed, and Vonlanthen might have had a penalty.
Cris Freddi's Complete Book of the World Cup

PLAY-OFF
20 June 1954 - Sankt Jakob, Basle - 30,000 - Mervyn Griffiths (WAL)
   
    SWITZERLAND (1) 4
     Hügi 14, 85, Ballaman 48, Fatton 89
    ITALY (0) 1
   
 Nesti 67

SWITZERLAND Eugène Parlier, André Neury, Roger Bocquet (c), Willy Kernan, Olivier Eggiman, Charles Casali, Charly Antenen, Roger Vonlathen, Josef Hügi, Robert Ballaman, Jacky Fatton, Karl Rappen (AUT).
ITALY Giovanni Viola, Ardico Magnini, Giovanni Giacomazzi, Giacomo Mari, Ornero Tognon, Fulvio Nesti, Ernes Muccinelli, Egisto Pandolfini (c), Benito Lorenzi, Armando Segato, Amleto Frignani. Lajos Czeizler (HUN).

It wasn't a defeat, said an Italian paper, it was a disaster. No excuses possible.
   Early on, Italy looked over-confident but were probably just tired, allowing Switzerland to dictate from the moment Hügi was sent clear in the inside-left channel to hit a low shot past Viola's right-hand. For the second match in a row, Lorenzi had a shot blocked on the line by a defender, then his powerful shot was superbly saved by Parlier. Soon after half-time, new cap Viola tipped a dangerous header over the bar but couldn't stop Ballaman driving in the corner from five yards out.
   Muccinelli's backheel was kicked away by a defender, Nesti showing good reactions to get in a header when the ball flew hard straight at him. But Vonlantehn was running the midfield by then, going past the keeper to set up an open goal for Fatton, who had made the third goal with a square pass met by another low shot from Hügi.
   Four of the Italians, including Lorenzi, weren't capped again. The Party later complained of boredom at the training camp in Vevey, but that comes with the territory. Pozzo could have told them that, and he was still around to ask.
Cris Freddi's Complete Book of the World Cup

QUARTER-FINAL
26 June 1954 - Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - 32,000 - Charlie Faultless (SCO)
   
    AUSTRIA (5) 7
     Wagner 25, 28, 54, A Körner 26, 34, Ocwirk 32, Probst 77
    SWITZERLAND (4) 5
     Ballaman 16, 36, Hügi 17, 18, 60

AUSTRIA Kurt Schmied, Gerhard Hanappi, Ernst Happel, Leopold Barschandt, Ernst Ocwirk (c), Karl Koller, Robert Körner, Theo Wagner, Ernst Stojaspal, Erich Probst, Alfred Körner. Walter Nausch.
SWITZERLAND Eugène Parlier, André Neury, Roger Bocquet (c), Willy Kernan, Olivier Eggiman, Charles Casali, Charly Antenen, Roger Vonlathen, Josef Hügi, Robert Ballaman, Jacky Fatton, Karl Rappen (AUT).

Whatever happened to the Swiss bolt? The Austrians thrust it aside with short passes, slowing down the play - but only after conceding those three goals in three minutes. An amazing scoreline, unthinkable nowadays - though i would have been even more eye-catching if Robert Körner hadn't missed a penalty three minutes before half-time!
   Ballaman cracked in a high shot from twenty yards. Hügi held off a defender and shot round him past an unsighted keeper for the second, then drove a low right-wing  cross high into the net for the third; Wagner took a return pass from one of the Körners to score with a low ground shot which the keeper should probably have reached; Alfred Körner struck a fine goal with the outside of his left foot from out on the right, curling the ball in off the far post; Wagner scored with a low cross-shot; Ocwirk rolled a first-time ground shot across the keeper; Körner forced the ball in after a fumble by the keeper; Ballaman converted a low cross from the right; and Robert Körner put the penalty wide of the post to the keeper's right.
   At half-time Schmied and Bocquet received medical attention for sunstroke, then Wagner slid in his third from the corner of the six-yard box. Hügi's 20-yarder swung away from the keeper who should still have saved it instead of just getting  hand o it; and finally Probst chipped the ball over the diving keeper from the left-hand edge of the six-yard area.
   With six minutes left, Neury made another saving tackle when Stojaspal seemed sure to score. As if it mattered by then!
Cris Freddi's Complete Book of the World Cup
 
Switzerland Form: last six games
W D L D W W  f 17:a 14  success: 67%
241 11 November 1953 -
France 2 Switzerland 4
[0-0]
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
Ujlaki (2)
Antenen (3), Fatton
Fr HW
242 22 November 1953 -
Switzerland 2 Belgium 2
[0-2]
Hardturm Stadion, Zürich
Fatton, Antenen
H.Van den Bosch (2)
HD
243 25 April 1954 -
Switzerland
3 West Germany 5 [0-4]
Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel
Fatton, Ballaman, Kernen
Schäfer (2), Walter (2), Morlock
HL
244 23 May 1954 - Switzerland 3 Uruguay 3 [1-1]
Stade Olympique de La Pontaise, Lausanne
Casali (pen), Antenen, Ballaman
Borges, Schiaffino, Martínez
HD
245 30 May 1954 -
Switzerland 3 Netherlands 1
[2-1]
Hardturm Stadion, Zürich
Vonlanthen (3)
Dillen
HW
246 17 June 1954 - Switzerland 2 Italy 1 [1-1]
Stade Olympique de La Pontaise, Lausanne
Ballaman, Hügi
Boniperti
WCF HW
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CG