DURBAN, South Africa, June 16 (UPI) -- Switzerland's Gelson Fernandes scored the lone goal of the game Wednesday and the Swiss tied a World Cup shutout record with a 1-0 win over Spain.
Spain, FIFA's No. 2-ranked team and a favorite to contend for the World Cup title, threw charge after charge at the Swiss and goaltender Diego Benaglio but never broke through in the Group H game. Spain had 24 shots toward goal, including eight on target.
The shutout was the fifth consecutive for the Swiss in World Cup play, tying the record set 20 years ago by Italy. It was also the first time a Swiss team beat the Spanish. They had met 18 times previously.
The Spanish controlled play and the Swiss managed just one shot toward goal in the first 50 minutes. But a long clearing kick from Benaglio sent the ball beyond midfield where the Swiss set up a quick play.
Eren Derdiyok caught up to the ball and fed it to Fernandes in close. A Spanish defender and goalkeeper Iker Casillas challenged Fernandes but he broke free and scored the goal in the 52nd minute.
Earlier Wednesday, Chile got a goal from Jean Beausejour in defeating Honduras 1-0 in the tournament's first Group H match.
Spain will go against Honduras and Chile plays Switzerland Sunday in the group's second set of round-robin games
