Switzerland end 88 years of knockout pain, and Manzambi looks like the real deal

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Lost in all the Ronaldo drama last night, Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0 in Vancouver for their first World Cup knockout win since 1938. Eighty eight years and seven straight knockout exits, finally over. Embolo tapped in on 10 minutes and Ndoye drilled in the second right after the restart, and from there it was pretty routine

The player everyone should be talking about is Johan Manzambi. Twenty years old, tore down the right and set up the opener with an inch perfect cross, and he is now the youngest player on record to reach five goal involvements at a single World Cup. The Sky commentary was full of Newcastle fans begging their club to sign him and you can see why, the pace and directness terrified Algeria all night

Algeria will be kicking themselves. They had 56 percent of the ball, started brightly, and Aouar should have scored in the sixth minute before the Swiss punished them straight away. Mahrez barely got a kick, shackled by his old City teammate Akanji, and at 35 this was probably his last World Cup match. There is also the odd subplot of Petkovic managing against the Switzerland side he coached for seven years

Swiss get the winner of Colombia vs Ghana back in Vancouver on Tuesday. Quietly they have won three in a row for the first time ever at a World Cup and have not conceded to African opposition in any of their three World Cup meetings. Dark horses or just beneficiaries of a kind draw?

Switzerland vs Algeria Stats: Embolo and Ndoye End 88-Year Wait for World Cup Knockout Win | Opta Analysttheanalyst.com