Though its vaunted defense finally cracked in the last match, it almost certainly will be Switzerland's offense that determines if it returns to the round of 16 for a second consecutive World Cup.
Likely needing a victory and some goals, the Swiss try to escape from a balanced Group H as they play last-place Honduras on Friday at Bloemfontein.
Switzerland, which opened with a 1-0 upset of European champion Spain, had its World Cup-record 557-minute shutout streak end in the 75th minute of its 1-0 defeat to Chile on Monday. Playing short-handed after midfielder Valon Behrami was given a straight red card in the 31st minute, the Swiss held out until substitute Mark Gonzalez scored for the South Americans.
"It was very hard to work with 10 men," defender Steve Von Bergen said. "We're angry at the moment, but we're still in with a great chance, provided we beat Honduras."
Defense should be the least of Switzerland's problems as Honduras enters this match scoreless so far. Switzerland, though, has no goal differential and trails Spain 2-1 on goals scored.
That puts pressure on forwards Alexandre Frei, Eren Derdiyok and midfielder Gelson Fernandes, who has the lone Swiss goal, to provide the needed offense to win tiebreakers versus both Spain and Chile should the Spaniards win and create a three-way tie with six points in the group.
Frei might still not be completely recovered from an ankle injury that caused him to miss the victory over Spain, though coach Ottmar Hitzfeld lifted the striker Monday after 42 minutes for defensive midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta to play for the draw with 10 men.
Switzerland reached the round of 16 in 2006, and became the first team eliminated without allowing a goal after losing to Ukraine in penalty kicks.
Honduras has a slim chance of advancing to the knockout round, but must win by at least three goals and have Chile defeat Spain to create a three-way tie for second with three points.
The Catrachos have shown little reason to believe they can produce such a stunning offensive outburst against a Swiss back line even without injured Philippe Senderos after being overrun 2-0 by Spain. The scoreline could have been much worse as goalkeeper Noel Valladares made six saves and also watched a penalty kick by David Villa go wide.
"We lacked conviction,'' coach Reinaldo Rueda said. "There's nothing much to explain except that we had a superior team in front of us.''
Honduras has lacked significant possession time with the ball in both matches, and that's led to few scoring opportunities. The Catrachos failed to put any of their nine shots against Spain on goal, and midfielder Ramon Nunez has the only two shots on goal out of 16 taken.
Honduras has gone 300 minutes without scoring in World Cup play since Eduardo Laing's marker provided a 1-1 draw versus Northern Ireland in 1982.
