Durban, South Africa (AHN) - World Cup favourites and current European Champions Spain were defeated 1-0 by Switzerland in its opening match Wednesday.

On a night which pitted football's equivalent of beauty against the beast, it was the beast of Switzerland which emerged victorious.

Spain, as was expected kept the ball superbly, but all the possession in the world is no good if a team does not advance the ball and create scoring opportunities.

Switzerland knew this and manned its defensive barricades just hoping for a chance to hit the favorites on the break.

Then, when its chance came, Spain took it.

A long ball was defended atrociously and the ball eventually found it's way to Gelson Fernandes who continued the bundled move, forcing the ball home.

Stung into action, Spain sprung forward and Xabi Alonso almost scored the goal of the tournament when he smashed a stunning drive against the underside of the Swiss crossbar.

Spain now will need to beat both Honduras and Chile if it is to stay in the tournament, but even then it is likely to face powerhouse Brazil in the last 16.