Warning to Venables from classy Swiss

Switzerland 2 Wales 0

Wales will return home with a warning to Terry Venables that Switzerland, England's opening opposition in this summer's European Championship finals, are a handful indeed.

Bobby Gould's makeshift side, with a host of new caps and fresh faces, struggled to contain the Swiss, who were two goals to the good before half-time last night and threatening to run riot.

But Wales hung on in the second half and their own prospects for the World Cup qualifying campaign will not have suffered too much damage. There was some hope for the future too in the outstanding displays of both Danny Coyne and, particularly, Andrew Marriott in the search for the long-term successor to Neville Southall.

Coyne could not be blamed for the two Swiss goals but Chris Coleman could. In the 32nd minute a free-kick from Ciraico Sforza drifted over and the Blackburn defender rose to nudge a header beyond Coyne. Then just before half-time Coleman's challenge on Stephane Chapuisat resulted in a penalty and Kubilay Turkyilmaz made no mistake.

SWITZERLAND (4-3-3): Pascolo (Servette); Vogel (Grasshoppers), Henchoz (SV Hamburg), Vega (Grasshoppers), Quentin (FC Sion); Ohrel (St Etienne), Wicky (FC Sion), Sforza (Bayern); Chapuisat (Borussia Dortmund), Grassi (Rennes) Turkyilmaz (Grasshopper). Substitutes: Hottiger (Everton) for Vogel, h-t; Lombardo (Grasshopper) for Chapuisat, 64; Sutter (Freiburg) for Ohrel, 64; Knup (Karlsruhe) for Grassi, 76; Lehmann (Sion) for Pascalo, 84; Comisetti (Grasshopper) for Turkyilmaz, 84; Koller (Grasshopper) for Wicky 84.

WALES (3-5-2): Coyne (Tranmere); Symons (Man City), Bowen (Norwich), Coleman (Blackburn); Robinson (Charlton), Horne (Everton), Jones (Wimbledon), Pembridge (Sheffield Wednesday), Legg (Birmingham); Hartson (Arsenal), Taylor (Sheffield Utd). Substitutes: Speed (Leeds) for Legg, 30; Marriott (Wrexham) for Coyne, h-t; Davies (Manchester Utd) for Taylor, h-t; Savage (Crewe) for Horne, 65; Goss (Norwich) for Jones, 65; Edwards (Swansea) for Coleman, 89.

Referee: L Stafoggia (Italy).