Oh brother! Swiss on a roll as Arsenal’s new boy Granit wins bragging rights
ARSENAL fans got their first international glimpse of £30million signing Granit Xhaka as the Swiss midfielder put in a man-ofthe-match performance to steer his country to a hardfought opening win over 10-man Albania in Group A.
Xhaka and his brother, Taulant, made history yesterday by becoming the first siblings to line up on opposite sides at the Euros.
Playing in his trademark defensive midfield role, Xhaka showed what a useful acquisition he will prove for Arsene Wenger as he overshadowed his brother with a composed performance full of physical presence and strong technique. Both brothers were born in Basel to ethnic Kosovan parents but while Granit opted to play for the senior Swiss side, Taulant, 18 months older, chose Albania.
It was tough going for the Swiss against the 250-1 outsiders, who so nearly pulled off an historic result in their first major finals after playing more than half the match a man short following the dismissal of former Sunderland skipper Lorik Cana for two yellow cards.
New Gunner Xhaka said: ‘It was a very special moment for my family having sons playing on opposite sides, which was rather bizarre. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. Of course there was a lot of pressure on our shoulders but I think myself and my brother pushed back our limits. We gave absolutely everything. It was a football match, nothing more. The only thing perhaps you could hold against us is that we had several more opportunities (to score) and it got trickier all the time.’
Xhaka completed 127 passes as Switzerland picked up only their second victory in a Euro finals, despite a healthy record at the World Cup.
These two countries may be 500 miles apart yet this was arguably the first derby at Euro 2016 — thanks to the unusual ethnic links between the sides. Ten members of Albania’s squad were either born in Switzerland or grew up there, with seven of them playing for the Swiss at Under-21 level before switching allegiance. Conversely, six Swiss squad players have family links to Albania or Kosovo.
With the entire stadium bathed in red and positively shaking with expectation, Albanian fans who poured in made up well over half the capacity 35,000 crowd at the tightly packed stadium where England meet Wales on Thursday.
But the game was just five minutes old when their
goalie Etrit Berisha needlessly rushed out and flapped at Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner. Fabian Schar made a late dart into the heart of the area to head home.
Albania had only 28 shots in their entire qualifying campaign but now had to chase the game. Elseid Hysaj’s 40-yard pass split the Swiss defence but Armando Sadiku could only hit Yann Sommer’s legs.
Yet, just when Albania were enjoying their best spell, Cana was penalised for handball just outside the area and dismissed for a second yellow.
Swiss striker Haris Seferovic missed three fine chances and almost paid for it in the closing moments. Newly-arrived sub Shkelzen Gashi spurned the clearest opening of the match when clean through only for Sommer to tip over.