This Friday’s Serbia-Switzerland is fraught with morbidity due to the Kosovar Albanian ancestry of Xhaka and Shaqiri, who already set Serbia’s minds on fire during their duel at the last World Cup.
It is surprising that a duel between Serbia and Switzerland (next Friday at 8 p.m.), two countries so different, can become controversial. Switzerland has been an exceptional case in Europe, a kind of oasis of peace in the heart of a war-torn continent. The Balkans, on the other hand, were the opposite: the origin of some of the greatest conflicts. After the last war in former Yugoslavia, seven independent states were formed. One of them was Kosovo, a miniature example of what the Balkans are, a melting pot of cultures, a place of contradictions.
For centuries, Kosovo received immigrants from neighboring Albania, a Muslim-majority country, who gradually pushed out the Serb population. When the conflict broke out, more than 90% of Kosovo’s population was of Albanian descent. However, Kosovo is an area of great importance to Serbia, a historical place, the origin of its ancient kingdom. There, in the plain of Kosovo, the last battle of Tsar Lazarus against the Turks was fought in 1389, which meant the capitulation of the Kingdom of Serbia to the Ottomans. That is why the loss of Kosovo has always been a blow to national pride for the Serbs.
There is a tense calm between the two countries, but the slightest spark can ignite it. That same summer, a conflict over car registration plates and permits to travel from Serbia to Kosovo and vice versa, a matter that seems trivial but becomes important when it comes to recognizing where sovereignty rests, caused a serious crisis. Barely a week ago, on November 24, the two states reached a last-minute deal that seems to resolve the conflict. What does Switzerland have to do with this?
The reason has to do with immigration. Many of the Swiss players come from other countries and two of them, Xhaka and Shaqiri, are of Kosovar Albanian descent, a people with a large representation in Switzerland. For example, Xhaka’s brother plays for the Albanian national team. At the last World Cup, the teams of Switzerland and Serbia were also in the same group. Victory was for the Swiss and fate would have it that the goals would be scored precisely by Shaqiri and Xhaka. In celebration, the two players crossed their hands and formed the double-headed eagle, the symbol of Albania, which set the Serbs on fire.
Four years later, both teams meet again. From a strictly sporting point of view, the game is essential, as both teams play for the passage to the round of 16. Switzerland is on its own, while the Serbs must win and Cameroon must not. The African team faces Brazil, so logic dictates that the winner of the duel between the Serbs and the Helvetians will determine second place.
If anyone could believe that the controversy over the previous World Cup had died down, a picture of the Serbian dressing room before the match against Brazil rekindled the fuse. It featured a flag with the coat of arms of Serbia and the map of Kosovo, along with the motto “Don’t Surrender”. FIFA is looking into the matter and it is possible that the Serbs will face penalties, in the same way Xhaka and Shaqiri did after that match.
It is not easy for history to repeat itself as Shaqiri, who now plays in the United States, has been dropped from the national team and does not look likely to start. However, Xhaka is at the best moment of his career and is the leader in both his club, Arsenal, the new leader of the Premier, and the national team. We have to hope that everything goes normally and that no fire comes near the pit this afternoon at Al Thumama Stadium.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
