Switzerland vs. Peru: 6 Things We Learned

Switzerland beat Peru 2-0 in their final friendly before the 2014 World Cup.

A headed goal from Stephan Lichtsteiner was followed by a strike from substitute Xherdan Shaqiri. The victory preserved Switzerland's strong recent record and ensured they will head to the tournament in good spirits.

Go to the next slide to discover what we learned from this friendly match.

The Swiss Are Still Far from Fluent in Attack

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It took Switzerland until the 78th minute to break Peru down. Heading into the tournament, the major concern remains over their goalscoring prowess.

Ottmar Hitzfeld will hope his attack can find some fluency in Brazil.

That Defence Remains Resilient

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Switzerland have now kept a remarkable 11 clean sheets in their last 16 games. That kind of defensive solidity could help balance out their weakness in attack. Switzerland will be inspired by the success of a similarly well-organised Greece team in Euro 2004.

Josip Drmic Will Be the Man Up Top

Once again, Ottmar Hitzfeld selected Josip Drmic as the spearhead of the attack. That means the Bayer Leverkusen man is all but certain to start ahead of Haris Seferovic in this summer's tournament.

Hitzfeld will hope Drmic's pace and keen eye for goal make up for his relative inexperience.

Ricardo Rodriguez Could Be the Surprise Star

Ricardo Rodriguez is a 21-year-old attacking left-back who plays for Wolfsburg. Against Peru, he was arguably the team's best player and created their opening goal with an excellent cross.

If Rodriguez can follow up a strong domestic campaign with some good performances in Brazil, he could find himself being linked with some enormous clubs by the end of the summer.

Xherdan Shaqiri Remains the Great Hope

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It speaks volumes that Xherdan Shaqiri was the only regular first-choice player to be left out of the starting XI against Peru: Switzerland simply can't afford to risk him.

Shaqiri came off the bench to underline his value by having a hand in the first goal before scoring the second, with a rare right-footed strike.

Momentum Is Good

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The Swiss team jet off to Brazil with just one defeat in their last 18 games. Setting aside that one loss to South Korea, it's a tremendous run of form. Ottmar Hitzfeld and his team have tremendous momentum and can go to the World Cup with a good deal of confidence. Although this was just a friendly, it was important to keep their impressive run going.