you haven't seen Granit Xhaka yet, have you
According to Swiss TV, the linesman was awkwardly positioned to see it though. So normal excuseable human error.
Well he wasn't. The stream had a bad angle.
Problem is at least the TV pic it looks like Xhaka, I believe, touched the ball, and at that moment it would havhe been offside. But Xhaka did not touch the ball.
That was a truly Swiss game: Be neutral, keep the attackers at bay and profit when the war is over.
you surely have never heard of the Cologne-Düsseldorf beer rivaly
The goalie? Why would anyone want to bang the goalie? He basically chillaxes in the back of the field until someone breaks through the chain of defenders and when that happens he jumps to catch the ball and gets dirty.
Well, at least on the continent I feel like Xavi, Iniesta and Sneijder got and get their fair share of recognition. Angel di Maria, yes, he has a hard time, but mostly because he is the second-best attacking-minded player on his team.
Fair point. I think we need to acknowledge the greatness of defenders and this is why Lahm is underrated by most.
Ah an informed discussion about football! On the internet! I've never seen this before!
I hope you will excuse my ignorance towards you, I interpreted your first post completely differently. Most people that bring forth the arguments you used are only concerned with goals scored.
It also goes the other way round. Swiss hockey teams are now called Tigers, Lions, Flyers, Sharks, and, most appaling, LAKERS! And there is a minor league club called HC Red Ice. WTF? All I'm saying is that sports marketing goes weird ways.
Labelling them the best footballers of the world is correct, yet a misunderstanding. Philipp Lahm of FC Bayern Munich could equally be described as the best player in the world, or at least runner-up, but he does not play in the spotlight but behind the scenes.
Not true, the difference is Nati has a very short a and Nazi is more like Naaaazi. True story and very important. I remember getting shouted at when I was a child for confusing the spelling (being a German speaking Swiss with German heritage and some experience with actual Nazis surely did not help)
Honestly, looking back at the last 25 years of Swiss soccer, can't you understand each and every Swiss footballer who decided to play for another country he was eligible for?
also, you're not quite right. Five or six players grew up in the French speaking parts and two (Behrami, Gavranovic) in the Italian speaking part. Look at their youth teams on Wikipedia, their names are heavily misleading ;)
well, what is Swiss then? All of the guys with foreign names grew up in Switzerland, their parents or, in some cases, grandparents immigrated. That is a very Swiss thing. Nearly no Swiss have pure lineage without foreigners.