The attacks of Sergio Ramos and Co. were no match for the Swiss defense.
(Creative Commons)

After watching Switzerland's brilliant 1-0 triumph over Spain I'm officially declaring that there are now two great walls: the one in China and the one in the Swiss backfield.

That's quite a bit of hyperbole, I know, but Switzerland's defense earned it on Wednesday as they shut out the second ranked team in the world. To a man they played tight, aggressive defense, never once backing down from the tournament's most feared offense.

From center backs Stephane Grichting and Steve van Buren to wing defenders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Reto Ziegler to goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, the Swiss played with rare focus and fearlessness. Even when defensive linchpin Phillipe Sanderos went down (giving Spain the soccer equivalent of a power play), the unit stayed tight and held off the attack.

Benaglio was particularly good. He protected the goal with more bravery and cunning than even Tim Howard, which I didn't think was possible, and saved more shots than I could count. I thought he was unquestionably the Man of the Match (ESPN obviously disagrees).

Swiss captain Goklan Inler had a terrific game as well. He was as disruptive in the midfield as anybody I've seen so far, including standouts Nigel De Jong of Holland and Daniele De Rossi of Italy.  

Spain dominated the game in terms of possession (74 percent) and shots (25), but Switzerland held them out anyway and converted what few opportunities they had -- the main one being, of course, Gelson Fernandes' goal in the 52nd minute -- on their way to victory.  

Fernandes' goal wasn't pretty (in fact, it was the ugliest goal I've seen at this tournament that didn't involve a ridiculous goalie error), but it was earned and well deserved. He followed the play like an attacking player is supposed to do and confidently put the ball home when fortune smiled on him. It was a fluky goal, but it was a goal nonetheless, and it counts no less than the most beautiful of finishes.

Speaking of which, Spain had some gorgeous setups in the game.

Their passing was a thing of beauty. And when they combined it with the urgency of being down 1-0 the sparks flew: intricate interior passes, cross-field lobs, sets plays off of corner kicks. They had it all working like clockwork.

Unfortunately, Spain just couldn't find that one magic moment. This should be attributed in large part to Switzerland's air-tight defense, of course, but also to bad luck. Sometimes the soccer gods just don't smile on you.   

Spain played well up front and had multiple chances that should have gone in -- none closer than Xabi Alonso's textbook strike in the 69th minute -- but ultimately they went home defeated. It was yet another monumental letdown in a series of monumental letdowns by Spain at the World Cup -- they've never been past the quarterfinals in the tournament.

So where do we place the blame?      

Some will choose to put the loss on the heads of players like David Villa and Andres Iniesta, both of whom failed to find the net in spite of multiple opportunities, but I wouldn't blame it on any one individual player for Spain (not even sub Fernando Torres, who was atypically bad due to an early return from injury). I think it's more appropriate to give credit to the Swiss in this case. They had a winning gameplan, stuck to it and fought uncompromisingly until the final whistle blew.

The win puts Switzerland in the driver's seat of Group H. There are few teams who can unlock their defense at this point and I think both Chile and Honduras are going to have a difficult time beating them. The only question I have is whether they can repeat Wednesday's performance now that they are no longer considered the underdog.

The opening round is far from over, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if Spain ends up regrouping and laying siege to Chile and Honduras in a race to the top.

It's difficult to imagine fiery players like Carlos Puyol and Iker Casillas taking this loss lightly.