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Switzerland 2-0 Portugal: Euro 2016 winners slump to opening defeat

Sep 6, 2016 4:44:10 PM

The Portuguese were unable to carry their championship winning form into their World Cup campaign as they went down to a first half double

Fernando Santos suffered his first competitive defeat as Portugal coach, with the European champions beginning their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 loss to Group B rivals Switzerland, who ended the match with 10 men.

Since taking over from Paulo Bento in September 2014, Santos had navigated Portugal through 14 non-friendly matches without loss, winning Euro 2016 in the process, but that run came to an end at St Jakob-Park on Tuesday.