Switzerland beats Serbia to join Brazil in knockout round of World Cup

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Xherdan Shaqiri took off as quickly because the ball hit the again of the online.

It was no shock the place he was headed after scoring the primary objective in Switzerland’s 3-2 win over Serbia on Friday, a end result that put his group into the spherical of 16 on the World Cup for the third match in a row.

Born in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Shaqiri ran straight to the opposing followers to rejoice — placing his finger to his lips after having been beforehand taunted by that part of the gang.

The sport was solely 20 minutes previous and the strain was palpable.

“You can hear by listening to my voice, it’s hoarse, that it was a game with a lot of emotions,” Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka stated. “It is part of football. The game was fair enough. We wanted to focus on football. We did this and we took this first step and are now into the round of 16. We are proud.”

Most importantly for Switzerland, it went by way of to the knockout spherical after ending second in Group G and can subsequent face Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday at Lusail Stadium.

But the tensions surrounding this explicit match-up at all times threatened to blow up.

The nations met within the group stage on the final World Cup in 2018, leading to a Swiss victory, however Shaqiri and Xhaka have been fined for celebrating with hand gestures representing Albania’s nationwide eagle image.

Xhaka and Shaqiri have Albanian heritage linked to Kosovo.

Serbia was additionally fined and warned by FIFA concerning the “display of discriminatory banners and messages” by supporters.

An announcement was made at Stadium 974 throughout Friday’s match that gave the impression to be in relation to chanting from the Serbian followers. FIFA wouldn’t say what the announcement was after the match.

“I didn’t hear it. Honestly, I didn’t hear,” Serbia coach Dragan Stojković said of the chants. “I was focusing on the game.”

There was sufficient occurring on the sector, together with Remo Freuler’s successful objective simply after halftime and several other flare ups between the gamers.

“First of all, I want to enjoy the moment,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin stated after being requested concerning the conduct of his gamers throughout a ill-tempered match. “It cost us a lot of energy and emotions. We went through a lot.”

Various Serbia’s substitutes burst onto the sector within the second half when Aleksandar Mitrovic had a penalty attraction denied. Xhaka was on the coronary heart of a heated melee late within the sport.

“Sometimes, you know, tensions come and maybe bad words create uncomfortable behavior,” Stojković said. “But it is nothing special. It is normal for this kind of game.”

Shaqiri scored the opening objective after which performed a key function within the winner. He clipped a ball into the penalty field for Ruben Vargas, who back-heeled to Freuler for the objective.

Despite these objectives, Shaqiri wasn’t pleased to be substituted within the 69th minute. Before taking his seat on the bench, he whacked the facet of the dugout together with his elbow.

“No one likes to be substituted,” Yakin stated. “Part of my responsibility is to protect the players. He scored a goal and had a great assist. He was very present and supported his teammates and made a difference.” 

Goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic had put Serbia within the lead within the first half, however Breel Embolo evened the rating simply earlier than halftime.

Switzerland, which wanted a win to ensure itself a spot within the knockout spherical after beating Cameroon and shedding to Brazil in its opening two video games, reached the spherical of 16 on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and once more 4 years later in Russia. They misplaced 1-0 in each matches, to Argentina and Sweden, respectively.

Against Portugal, the Swiss can be seeking to attain the quarterfinals for the primary time since internet hosting the competitors in 1954.

LUCKY CHARM

Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini officiated Friday’s match at Stadium 974. He was additionally the referee for Switzerland’s penalty shootout win over World Cup champion France within the spherical of 16 ultimately 12 months’s European Championship.

CAUGHT COLD

Switzerland goalkeepers Yann Sommer and Philipp Koehn, in addition to defender Nico Elvedi, have been all unavailable as a result of they have been sick.

GOAL KING

Mitrovic scored his 52nd worldwide objective to increase his file as Serbia’s main scorer.