SWISS coach Vladimir Petkovic was not impressed when two of his players celebrated their goals with political gestures insisting that they should never mix with football.

GRANIT Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri scored a goal in Switzerland’s 2-1 win at the World Cup against Serbia, celebrating both by representing a nationalist symbol of their ethnic Albanian heritage.

In the first come-from-back win of the tournament, Xhaka scored the 1-1 with a powerful shot from an overcrowded penalty in the 52nd minute.

Shaqiri added the others in added time after running past the Serbian defense. They both put their open hands together, their thumbs crossed and their fingers outstretched to create what looks like the double-headed eagle on the Albanian national flag.

The thumbs represent the heads of the two eagles, while the fingers look like feathers.

The gesture is likely to spark tension between Serb nationalists and ethnic Albanians.

Shaqiri was born in Kosovo, the former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence and relations between the two countries remain tense.

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Xhaka’s parents are originally from Kosovo and are of Albanian descent.

Aleksandar Mitrovic headed for Serbia in the fifth minute.

Although the win puts Switzerland in pole position to get out of a difficult group with five-time winners Brazil, Petkovic was unfazed by the joy of his players.

“You should never mix politics and football, it’s good to be a fan and to show respect,” he told reporters after the game.

“It is clear that emotions are surfacing. I think that on and off the pitch we have to move away from politics in football and should focus on this sport that connects people. ”

Shaqiri was relentlessly whistled by Serbian fans during a high-profile match, but the Stoke City striker had the final laugh with his final winning goal.

“In football you always have emotions and you can see what I’ve done and it’s just emotions,” he said of his controversial celebration.

“I’m very happy with the goal, that’s all.”

Together with Bologna’s Blerim Dzemaili, who was born in neighboring Macedonia, Albanian-speaking players made up more than a third of the starting XI against Brazil.

The children of immigrants to Switzerland did not comment before the game against Serbia, which ended 2-1 in their favor.

Before the game, relatives of the players made no secret of the symbolic meaning of the game as seen from the Kosovar capital Pristina.

For Valon Behrami’s uncle Qaush, his nephew will have “special motivation to win” because his parents suffered from the Serbian province of Kosovo.

“They both lost their jobs and their father was persecuted,” said Qaush Behrami.

Xhaka said the father of his cousin Granit was imprisoned during the regime of the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and the “family emigrated after his release”.

Like dozens of thousands of others, the families of Behrami, Xhaka and Shaqiri fled to Switzerland during the 1998-1999 war between the Kosovar-Albanian pro-independence guerrillas and Serbian armed forces.

There are no official figures, but an estimated 200,000 Kosovar Albanians live in Switzerland, a remarkable number compared to the 1.8 million inhabitants of Kosovo.

Together with the community living in Germany, they represent one of the main sources of income for Kosovo and return around 175 million francs (152 million euros, 176 million dollars) annually.

This emigration goes back to the time before the war in Kosovo.

Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj also lived in Switzerland and worked as a bouncer and karate teacher before returning to Kosovo and becoming one of the pro-independence guerrilla leaders.

The last conflict that accompanied the collapse of Yugoslavia claimed around 13,500 lives. More than 10,000 of the victims were Kosovar Albanians.

The war ended when the NATO bombing raids forced Milosevic to withdraw his troops. Less than a decade later, Kosovo declared its independence in 2008. Belgrade still refuses to recognize the declaration and is supported by its traditional ally Russia.

Belgrade is also making great efforts to prevent Kosovar teams from participating in international sporting events, albeit with decreasing success.

Kosovo was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 2014 and two years later it was accepted into the European football association UEFA and the global association FIFA.

But in May, Serbia prevented the Kosovar karate squad from entering the European Championship in Novi Sad.

No wonder that Kosovo is cheering Switzerland on.

“The whole of Kosovo will be in front of the television screens and cheer for the victory against Serbia,” the 46-year-old teacher Daut Maloku told AFP.

“When Switzerland plays, it’s the same as in Kosovo,” assured Qahil Halili.

“Switzerland is the third squad we have after Kosovo and Albania,” said Halili, a community worker from Zhegra, where Shaqiri was born.

A hamlet in the east of Kosovo is called “Little Switzerland” because 450 families have relatives there.

“The fans here will enjoy a Swiss victory more than the Swiss themselves,” said sports journalist Shkumbin Sekiraqa.

Sport
July 17, 2021 – 23:40

Latest news from the sport

Granit Xhaka is seriously requesting the transfer to AS Roma, writes Zeri.info.

The footballer from Kosovo is said to have given up the bonuses, only to join the team from the Italian capital.

“La Gazzetta dello Sport” writes that the 28-year-old has agreed to the conditions offered by Rome, while now it remains to reach an agreement between the clubs.

The only problem so far reported is the price. The Romans have offered 15 million euros, but the Londoners are asking for at least 20 million.

If an agreement is reached between the clubs, then Xhaka will sign a 4-year contract.

Granit Xhaka in Rome would earn 2.5 million euros a year. /Zeri.info

Sport
April 15, 2021 – 23:34

DETAILS

Arsenal eliminated Slavia Praguen in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, writes Zeri.info.

The “Gunners” in the first match in London drew 1-1.

The return match, which took place at the Sinobo Stadium in Prague, ended 0-4 for the Gunners.

Into the semi-final! ë

ë 0-4 ë (FT) | (1-5 agg)

ë #UEL

– Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 15, 2021

Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette scored two goals and one from Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka.

Granit Xhaka played the whole match, but in a completely different position, as a left defender and was evaluated with a grade of 7.0.

Gunners captain Alexandre Lacazette had the highest score after a fantastic two-goal performance, scoring 8.1.

Slavia footballer Jakub Hromada took care of the lowest grade which was 5.7.

Arsenal will face Villareal in the semi-finals.

Scores of players in the match Slavia Prague 0-4 Arsenal according to the site “SofaScore”:

Sport
April 01, 2021 – 23:47

DETAILS

Footballers Granit and Taulant Xhaka have surprised their father Ragip, with a luxurious gift, writes Zeri.info.

This was revealed by the representative of Albania, Taulanti in a post on “Instagram”.

He posted a photo where it is seen that the car belongs to the S Class “Mercedes” type of the latest series.

“Gift from me and Granite, for the best father in the world” is seen in the caption in the photo. /Zeri.info

Sport
March 31, 2021 – 11:27

Latest news from the sport

The football star from Kosovo, Granit Xhaka, wished his wife a happy birthday, writes Zeri.info.

Today (March 31), Leonita celebrates her birthday. On this special day, there is no way to miss even a special wish from her husband.

“My heart! I wish you a happy birthday from the bottom of my heart

Wish you 100 years.

Peace always, luck, prosperity and happiness “- it is said in Xhaka’s greeting, who has also published some photos.

My heart! I wish you a happy birthday from the bottom of my heart. ë ALLES gute zum Geburtstag. ë Become even ë years old. Peace always health, luck, prosperity and happiness. ë @ leonita.x

Posted by Granit Xhaka on Wednesday, 31 March 2021

Recall that Granit and Leonit Xhaka have been married since 2017. The couple also have a daughter. /Zeri.info

Sport
March 28, 2021 – 11:03

Latest news from the sport

The football player of the Albanian National Team, Taulant Xhaka, today (March 28) celebrates his birthday, writes Zeri.info.

The Albanian midfielder of Basel today celebrates his 30th birthday.

A special wish had no way of missing from his younger brother, Granit Xhaka.

Graniti even wished Taulant a happy birthday, dedicating a poem to him.

Full post by Granit Xhaka (without interference):

“Blood, I am a brother, I am, give me advice when I needed it, give it to me, I grew up with you, I grew up with lions, you are the second part because my mother made us, my eyes have never trembled, my body trembled in 2014 “When your name was mentioned, you lived with your family and with Klevis, and we made this relative proud.” /Zeri.info

Blood I am a brother I am, give me advice when I needed it and give it to me, I grow up with you I grow up with lions you are the part I am …

Posted by Granit Xhaka on Sunday, 28 March 2021

The couple, Taulant and Arbnora did not hesitate to congratulate her with a post on their social networks expressing their love and showing that it was the most beautiful thing that happened to them in life.

Arbnora, has shared with her 30 thousand followers photos from the photo session they took for their first birthday while the birthday cake can be seen.

“Happy 1st birthday to my little boy, my best friend and my first little love, you are already one year old, where has time gone?

You are the best thing that ever happened to us, thank you for making me the happiest mother.

I love you Klevis “, Arbnora’s words were her words for her son.

While, Taulanti has posted only two images of Klevis on his Instagram profile while he has accompanied them with loving dedication for his first birthday./Blic/

Sport
February 17, 2021 – 00:00

Despite good performances, Granit Xhaka is always the most criticized at Arsenal by the fans of the London team.

According to “The Sun”, the footballer from Kosovo has received many offensive and threatening messages on “Twitter” from the 0: 1 loss by Burnley on December 13, writes “Zeri.info”.

In this match last year, he was sent off in red after grabbing an opposing player by the throat.

Arsenal fans, who pay attention to the football player from Llapja, have his way on his “Twitter” account with disturbing messages.

“This team has no discipline, Xhaka is an Albanian Nazi cancer,” reads a comment.

“I want to hang it on a tree,” writes another fan.

Arsenal fans started the “fight” with Xhaka in October 2018, when he was being replaced in the match against Crystal Palacet and fans were whistling him.

At that time, Xhaka had reacted harshly with the words: “Pi *****”, which was not well received.

According to “The Sun”, in recent months, Xhaka has received over 1300 insulting and threatening messages on “Twitter”. /Zeri.info