DORTMUND, Germany – Switzerland’s precision carried it past Togo’s Team Turmoil and closer to the second round of the World Cup.

With a 2-0 victory over the tournament newcomers Monday, the Swiss tied South Korea atop Group G with four points, and sent the Sparrow Hawks fluttering home. Switzerland and South Korea play Friday, with one of them headed to the second round and possibly both. France is second in the group with two points and needs a win over Togo to remain alive.

Ludovic Magnin crossed the ball to Tranquillo Barnetta, whose pass was headed into the net by Switzerland’s star scorer Alexander Frei in the 16th minute. Barnetta added a goal in the 88th for the Swiss, in their first World Cup since 1994.

The African side clearly was hurt by the absence of suspended captain Jean-Paul Abalo and injured defender Ludovic Assemoassa. Still, the Togolese lived up to their nickname, with forwards Emmanuel Adebayor and Mohamed Kader repeatedly threatening against the Swiss defense, but failing to finish when it mattered.

At least the performance salvaged some national honor after an ugly dispute over salary and bonuses. An agreement with the Togo federation came Sunday, and maybe that gave the Sparrow Hawks inspiration.

The Togolese only agreed under pressure from FIFA to show up at the match. Fearing they might leave the tournament empty handed, the players initially refused to fly from their southern German base to Dortmund on Sunday.

They eventually relented after FIFA told them they risked serious sanctions, including being kicked out of the World Cup and barred from future ones. FIFA also promised to ensure the players get paid.

The players on Sunday demanded $96,000 per player – about $2.2 million – in cash. The government and federation had offered the equivalent of $58,000.

Coach Otto Pfister stormed out for three days and returned just hours before the South Korea match to protest the players’ repeated absence from training and the federation’s inability to settle the pay dispute.

The new peace wasn’t enough, though, to prevent their second straight loss and elimination from the tournament.

Frei missed a clear chance in front of an open goal early in the second half, but will be remembered for his goal, the 26th in 46 games for Switzerland. Frei was sent home in disgrace from Euro 2004 after spitting at an opponent, but has now more than redeemed himself in the national eye.

The Swiss have a reputation in the soccer world for being boring and predictable. Yet they scraped through qualifying with a bad-tempered match against Turkey, and have gone all out to challenge that staid image and show they are prepared to take risks here.

So they staged a much faster, more attacking game than in their 0-0 draw against France. The passing wasn’t perfect, but it was better than Togo’s.

Dortmund’s Westfalen Stadium resembled a mini-Switzerland, echoing to roars of “Hopp Schweiz.” The sea of red-and-white at the sold-out 65,000 seat ballpark was punctuated by a tiny corner of drumming Togolese fans clad in the yellow and green of the national flag.

AP-ES-06-19-06 1113EDT