This is the game neither side wanted to happen. And yet, this is the game both sides want to play. Maybe not for themselves, but certainly for their fans. Well, not all fans. The real Switzerland fans actually only want a result which will get them through the group stage, which is either a draw or a win. But Switzerland fans of Albanian origin, as well as the whole of Albania will want a repeat of the World Cup 2018 2-1 win over Serbia. The ethnic conflict between Serbs and the Albanian minority in the Serbia’s south province of Kosovo in 1999 resulted in casualties. Some of the Albanians seeaked refuge in other European countries and Switzerland was the most welcoming.Xhaka: ‘I had two blackouts in my career, Arteta is crazy’20 years after, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri are Albanians from Kosovo playing for Switzerland and in 2018, they used their winning goals to show the sign of two-headed eagle, a symbol on the Albanian flag to celebrate and provoke Serbs.“I’ve had two blackouts in my career. One in the game with Arsenal at Crystal Palace when I was booed and in that game against Serbia when I made that gesture. Everything went well in the Serbia game. Except for the double eagle. I shouldn’t have done that” said Xhaka in a recent interview for Blick. He also revealed his worst case scenario:🇨🇭 Granit Xhaka for Arsenal this season:20 games, 4 goals and 3 assists 🇷🇸 Sergej Milinković-Savić for Lazio this season20 games, 5 goals and 7 assistsTwo of the best midfielders in Europa this season meet tonight when Serbia and Switzerland play in the World Cup 👏 pic.twitter.com/4manuMTkhg— Stats24 (@_Stats24) December 2, 2022 “That was the opponent I had last wished for. But I hope that by the time of the match we’ll be further ahead thanks to two wins. Then we can tackle the game without pressure”.The Most Political World Cup Continues Today:Ghana vs Uruguay: Though it’s Asamoah Gyan penalty miss that denied Ghana the semifinals not Suarez’s handballSwitzerland vs Serbia: Swiss with 3 players of Kosovo-Albanian heritage and we recall Xhaka & Shaqiri’s eagle celebration pic.twitter.com/t5InKCvLA4— Adam Maina ™ 🌱 (@AdamMaina_) December 2, 2022 Unfortunately for everybody, that’s exactly how it turned out. This game is decisive for Serbia and they need only a win, nothing else. Bothered with injuries to some key players, the Serbs also had a disturbance in the training camp, when a social media rumor spread out like fire in the forest. Allegedly, Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic has an ongoing affair with a team-mate’s wife, which he had to deny at the press conference and label it as ‘absurd’. It is, by the way, a ‘story’ that absolutely none of the Serb media published, and it appeared only on social networks, without an author, of course.So, the Serbs, led by Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ajax’s captain Dušan Tadić, and Juventus’ full back Filip Kostic will have to ignore the political connotation, silly rumors about their teammates and step up to secure the win in order to advance to the last 16. And they will have to do it against a strong Switzerland side. A tough matchup indeed.
