FRANCE v TOGO, SOUTH KOREA v SWITZERLAND MATCH REPORT
Toby Higgins

ENGLAND v ECUADOR MATCH PROGRAMME

France overcame a battling Togo side to seal a place in second round, along with Switzerland, to complete the group stage of the 2006 Fifa World Cup.

France won their game against their African opponents two nil, but frankly they could have had five or six, as David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry and Frank Ribery all missed good chances.

It took until the 55th minute for Les Blues to take the lead, when Patrick Vieira received a pass from Ribery, and spun to lash his shot expertly past Togo keeper Kossi Agasa from inside the penalty area to relieve his side.

Henry bagged a second for his side to make the final ten minutes comfortable, as he latched onto a Vieira header before firing home, while Vieira was withdrawn before the end with a suspect head injury.

Switzerland meanwhile will top the group, as they saw of the challenge of South Korea. Philippe Senderos scored the first goal for the Swiss, as he rose highest to head home a deep free-kick, but suffered an injury to his nose, which bled as he ran to celebrate with team mates.

Late on, Alexander Frei rounded Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae to wrap up the two nil victory for his side, and despite the linesman clearly raising his flag for offside, the goal stood.

Switzerland will now meet the Ukraine in the second round, a clash that both sides will fancy their chances of winning, while France set up a mouth watering clash with Spain, knowing that they will need to improve significantly if they hope to make it into the quarter final draw.

South Korea can count themselves as being unlucky not to have made the second round for the second tournament running, having scored as many points as Australia, who made the second round with four points. Togo go home having lost all three of their World Cup games, and will feel bitterly disappointed that such a fantastic opportunity to show the World what they could do was disrupted by pay disputes.

Player of the Round: Tranquillo Barnetta - caused many defences a problem with his tricky wing play, and bagged himself a goal as he helped his side into the next round as group winners. Will relish the opportunity to put himself in the shop window, as his side prepare to face Ukraine.

ENGLAND v ECUADOR MATCH PROGRAMME

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