Switzerland into last 16 after edging tempestuous five-goal shootout with Serbia
It was no surprise then when Shaqiri became the third person to score at each of the last three World Cup tournaments as his deflected strike found the net after 20 minutes. The other two players to do so are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
There was no repeat of the eagle gesture, but the former Liverpool forward did point to the name of the back of his shirt in front of Serbian supporters in the stands, before shushing in their direction. He could not just let it pass, could he?
The first-half scoring was far from done there, as dynamic Serbian strike duo Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic both struck to turn the match on its head, and not for the first time.
Firstly, Fulham forward Mitrovic glanced a perfect header into the corner, his fifth World Cup career goal, while Juventus’ Vlahovic opened his World Cup account with a superb finish across the goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, standing in for the ill No.1 stopper Yann Sommer.
The Swiss, who had made it out of the group stages in three of their last four appearances at the finals, would not go away, and a sweeping move, finished off by Embolo, levelled things up before the break.
It was the first time since England against Argentina at France ’98 that both teams had scored twice in the first half of a World Cup match, and three minutes after the break we had a fifth goal, as the momentum again swung in Switzerland’s favour, Nottingham Forest’s Remo Freuler finding the net after another super move.
Shaqiri was subbed to perhaps save him from boiling over, something that did not have an immediate calming effect as he punched the plastic dugout wall, cracking it, when he went to take his seat on the bench.
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It is unclear why, but a small group of supporters were escorted out of the stadium late in the second half, while there was an announcement calling for supporters to stop making discriminatory chanting.
A late brawl, started by Xhaka, was how the match fittingly ended. This time, the flag Shaqiri was promoting in the celebrations was a Swiss one as the knockout stages once again beckon.
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