Developers World Championship: Match Report - Switzerland v Honduras (Group H)

VS HONDURAS Paratroopers: Air Assault (Software Factory)

Attttteeeeeentttion. The honourable Honduran app army may have shown signs of weariness on the training barracks after two rigorous games in six days, but its campaign wasn’t quite over.

Software Factory’s tap-to-shoot gunner, Paratroopers: Air Assault, had been drafted into action for a hat trick of appearances for the Central Americans this evening.

Under fire from certain sections of the press cordon back home for their back-to-back reverses, the team was determined to go out in a blaze of glory, rather than get shot down by the Swiss.

Swapping pendants with the military men was Nonverbal’s gorgeous origami-influenced puzzler, Colorbind. Being fond of puns myself (could you tell?), I appreciated the effort that the Swiss had gone to in naming this unique join-the-dots title.

In truth, Switzerland’s chances of progression from Group H were slimmer than Cheryl Tweedy’s thighs (and trust me, I’ve checked), but this tournament had already thrown up its fair share of surprises, so there was no way the Swiss were going to fold without giving it a go.

Kick Off: 7.30pm, 25th June

The critical view: The Honduran coach had been suspended for his team’s final group game, so took up residence next to the nation’s director of football in the VIP turret.

For 20 minutes this worked to the benefit of Paratroopers: Air Assault, since the higher vantage point afforded Coach Cabreras a better perspective on the battlefield.

FaceTiming with his assistant on the bench, he stressed the need for Honduras to simplify its gameplay and pick off the opposition one-by-one, as they stormed the penalty area.

In one moment of ill discipline, though, the strategy was in tatters. Weaving through challenges like a modern-day Cruyff, Colorbind’s winger was upended by less-than-friendly fire in the corner of the box.

Plenty of footballers go down like they've been shot under a challenge, but in this case the reaction was quite literally justified, as was the medical stretcher. Sure, it was only a flesh wound, but bleeding profusely onto his stripy shirt, he was never going to be allowed to continue and although the Swiss could bring on a sub, both sides had lost a player from that challenge.

Stood on the penalty dot, the Swiss striker had but three options: left, centre, or right. In the end, he looked to be going right then twisted his body to lift the ball high to the left to make it 1-0.

It was very nearly 2-0 minutes later, when a lovely twisting run from the substitute with A4 on his back left three defenders in his wake. Ultimately, he drove it just wide of the target.

The same player continued to join the dots in midfield, as he tormented the Hondurans with his ability to turn through 90 degrees, an especially impressive performance considering he'd only been included as a make(paper)weight.

The Hondurans eventually held out and the Paratroopers marched into the break just one goal down.

Paratroopers: Air Assault's OpenFeint integration of recently assimilated players was warmly appreciated, as the weapons upgrades on the sidelines prepared to enter the fray.

One of the aforementioned subs quickly made an impact, rifling home a (fortunately metaphorical) bullet from fully 25 yards. Pride had been restored in the Honduras camp and Software Factory seemed to believe their troops could manufacture a victory.

Visibly shaking their heads in disgust, the Swiss attempted to reset their strategy and focus in on the pre-match stats and gameplan.

Adhering to the coach's eight simple rules, Colorbind swapped achievements in midfield with the Central Americans, restoring parity of possession then trying to turn this quickly into an attack. And it was on one of these quick-breaks on 84 minutes that Nonverbal's midfield unleashed the full power of their 84 levels, forcing their way past a weary looking Honduran defence before clinically picking their spot.

With time running out and very little left in the tank, the Hondurans resorted to an artillery barrage of long balls, but to no avail.

Come full time, it was three points to Colorbind and on paper at least they were in with a shot of progressing as the latest reports had Spain 3-1 down to Finland with just 4 minutes of injury time left.

If that score stayed the same, then Spain would be out on account of scoring fewer goals. So were the Swiss rolling inexorably towards the Last 16? It was all down to the dying moments of the final group game...

Confused? Click here to go to the iPhone Game Developers World Championship info page.