Swiss late show in Kiev

Last laugh
Switzerland deservedly opened the scoring six minutes before the interval through Servette FC striker Alexander Frei who netted from 18 metres, but the home side got back on terms when Andriy Voronin turned home Armen Akopyan's cross at the third attempt in the 70th minute. However, Switzerland had the last laugh as Muff scored in the 90th minute, only four minutes after replacing Daniel Gygax.

'Forwards were excellent'
"It is a great result for us, but the tie is only at half-time as there are 90 minutes left," said Switzerland coach Bernard Challandes. "Our players were rather nervous, especially at the end of both halves, when Ukraine were enjoying some good possession. But our forwards were excellent, and scored twice on counterattacks. I am pleased with our performance, especially as I regard Ukraine as strong opponents. However, Ukraine played rather predictably today, and didn't cause us any surprises."

Not over yet
However, Challandes warned that the tie was far from over. "That said, we are not going to relax now," he said. "We must fight harder in Aarau to ensure we preserve what we have secured from this match. We will give all we got, and I am confident that we will win."

Regulars missing
His Ukraine counterpart, coach Volodymyr Onyshenko, lamented the absence of a number of regulars. "Firstly, I would like to remind people that we were without eight players for this match," he said. "Some are injured, while Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Andriy Nesmachnyi were required by the national team. This was a typical play-off match, but we lacked the class to win it.

Lack of experience
"I think you could see at some stages that we had players in our team from the Ukrainian second division, a class below the level that the Swiss players are regularly playing in. We paid for this lack of class and experience, especially in one-on-one situations. We still hope to get a victory in Aarau."