Captain Xhaka breaks his silence – and has an excavation ready

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At the end of the press conference, Granit Xhaka couldn’t resist scrutinizing the media. “Finally a good question,” says the midfielder – and laughs. A youth invited by the Sternschnuppe Children’s Aid Foundation asks the national team captain how excited he is before a game or a training session. “I always try to stay calm and cool,” replies Xhaka. “But of course there are games I’m more into.”

The captain was silent for a long time. Since living together in Pratteln a week ago, Xhaka has publicly closed himself off at the request of the association. He continued to post alone on social media, including scenes from the “Pressure Game” series, in which one episode is almost exclusively about him. Or photos of the 5-0 win against Belarus on Saturday in front of empty stands in Novi Sad.

travel in the past

In Geneva, the day before the duel against Israel, Xhaka breaks his silence. He talks about the 48-hour journey to Serbia, which, due to his family history and the past of the national team, received explosive media attention. Xhaka doesn’t make a murder pit of his heart. He speaks of a “very good conversation with the coach” a few weeks before the trip. It was up to the player himself whether he wanted to participate at all.

“It was not an easy decision for me. But it was clear that I wanted to be there and help the team.” He did. Xhaka was one of the best, scoring two goals and capping off his performance with a superb long range shot to make it 4-0 before making way for Fabian Rieder after just over an hour. “I’m glad we’re back.”

The captain’s past caught up with him in Novi Sad, which chose Belarus as the location. His father was imprisoned in the former Yugoslavia and later fled to Switzerland. Politically, Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s independence, and tensions continue to flare. A poster reading “Kosovo belongs to Serbia” is placed on a highway bridge near Belgrade airport. Xhaka’s gestures during the two World Cup matches against Serbia – the celebration of the double-headed eagle in 2018 and the wearing of the Jashari shirt in 2022 – sparked debates across the country.

The captain divides the general public, within the team he is undisputed. Criticism is part of football, says Xhaka. “I can deal with that, that’s my challenge.” He is now 30 and is becoming more mature, “so also think about what you can or should say”. Depending on your point of view, it’s always a tightrope for him. Opinions are divided about him, the best Swiss football player.

The goal is ten wins

Xhaka does not want to go into more detail about the World Cup in Qatar. “We took a blow against Portugal, but played a really good tournament overall. That’s it.” The next highlight beckons in the summer after the next with the European Championships in Germany. Can the Nati create the perfect campaign? “We want to win every game,” says Xhaka. “It has nothing to do with arrogance, that’s our claim.” But in the end no one asks how you qualified for a final round.

The next opponent is called Israel. Xhaka should also appear eighth again in the Stade de Geneve on the left half. “Granite is number 10 for a reason,” says Nati coach Yakin. As a full-back, as he once did at Arsenal, he would never use it. Xhaka laughs happily and nods his head vigorously when Yakin says so. Nati’s coach sees his captain in a more offensive role. “Here he can use his teammates and score goals himself. That wasn’t the case before because he had too many defensive tasks.”

With his 113th appearance, Xhaka overtakes Xherdan Shaqiri and Alain Geiger in Geneva. And over the course of the campaign, Basel could replace Heinz Herrmann as the national record player. Xhaka makes no secret that this brand would make him very proud. For him, the record would be a satisfaction to those “who accuse me of not being proud to play for Switzerland”. In the second leg in Israel in October it could be that time.

Source : Blick