At the age of 32 and having left top-flight European soccer behind to play in the MLS, Xherdan Shaqiri is back on the international stage and back scoring again, his stunning first-half strike on Wednesday securing a 1-1 draw for Switzerland against Scotland at UEFA Euro.
It is the sixth straight major international tournament in which Shaqiri has scored, dating to the FIFA World Cup in 2014.
That is three World Cups in a row and now three European Championships for the Chicago Fire forward.
Photo: AP
He is the first player to achieve that feat, UEFA said.
“He proved tonight that he lives and breathes for moments like these,” Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said.
Shaqiri rolled back the years with a first-time curling effort from about 20m out at Cologne Stadium.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Scotland led from the 13th minute when Scott McTominay’s shot took a wicked deflection off Fabian Schar to beat Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
However, Shaqiri pounced on Anthony Ralston’s loose pass in the 26th minute to even the match with a left-footed shot into the top corner and past Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn.
“If that chance falls to any other player in the Swiss team, it’s not a goal,” Scotland manager Steve Clarke said. “You knew when it was rolling towards Shaqiri, it was destined for the back of the net. He’s a top, top player, so you don’t give top, top players that kind of chance.”
Photo: AP
Shaqiri’s career has seen him play for some of Europe’s most iconic teams, including Bayern Munich, Inter and Liverpool. He joined the Fire two years ago, but in that time has continued to produce for his country on the biggest stage.
“Shaq always gives everything in training,” Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji said. “I don’t know how many other players are able to score that goal.”
The draw leaves Switzerland on four points, second in Group A behind Germany and likely to advance to the round-of-16.
Photo: AP
Germany became the first nation to advance after a 2-0 win over Hungary earlier in the day.
Scotland’s hopes of making the knockout round depend on their final game against Hungary on Sunday and results elsewhere. No team has failed to advance from the group stage with four points.
Both teams had chances to win the game.
Switzerland should have taken the lead just before the hour mark when Dan Ndoye turned Kieran Tierney on the edge of the box. With just Gunn to beat, Ndoye fired wide.
Grant Hanley headed against the post from a Scotland free-kick and Switzerland’s Zeki Amdouni headed wide at the far post late on.
Scotland have never advanced beyond the group stage of a World Cup or Euro on 11 previous attempts, but repeated disappointment does not seem to dampen optimism among their fans, who filled Cologne’s square before the game.
Switzerland supporters were out in numbers, too, creating a raucous atmosphere in the stadium.
It was certainly a more enjoyable evening for Scotland’s fans than the opening game of the tournament — a 5-1 loss to Germany.
“It was what we expected. It was a good reaction to a disappointing night. We’re still alive in the tournament,” Clarke said.
Goals from Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan made it two wins from two for hosts Germany after victory against Hungary and ensured there would be no repeat of their group-stage exit from the 2022 World Cup.
Albania substitute Klaus Gjasula scored in the fifth minute of stoppage-time to hold World Cup semi-finalist Croatia to a 2-2 draw in Group B.
Gjasula’s own-goal, just four minutes after entering the game in the second half, had looked like handing Croatia the win until his late strike.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
RSS