Skip to main content

Knocking out World Champion, Meet Swiss Muslim Players

World football champions France were knocked out of Euro 2020 on Monday, June 28, by Switzerland in a penalty shootout, in one of the biggest surprises of the games, so far.

In a heated game, the Swiss stormed back from two goals down to draw level at 3-3 through 90 minutes before going on to win the shootout 5-4 to eliminate the 2018 World Cup winners.

Monday’s victory is the country’s first knockout phase win in a major tournament since 1938 FIFA World Cup. The Swiss squad, with several Muslim players, will meet Spain in the quarterfinal next Friday, July 2.

📚 Read Also: Euro 2020: Organizers Make Sponsors’ Exception for Muslim Players

The Swiss squad features many players from an immigrant background, with players of Albanian, Kosovo, Macedonian, Bosnian Croat, Cape Verdean, and Ivorian roots.

Here are some key facts on top Muslim players in the Swiss team:

Granit Xhaka

Granit Xhaka is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Arsenal. He was born in September 1992 in Basel to Kosovo Albanian parents.

Xhaka was part of the Swiss team that won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his senior debut in 2011 and has won over 90 caps, representing the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, and at UEFA Euro 2016.

Xherdan Shaqiri

The 22-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri represents the Swiss national team in the ongoing France Euro 2016. Born in Yugoslavia from Albanian origin, the Muslim footballer plays as a midfielder for Liverpool in the Premier League.

Since his breakthrough into Basel’s first team, the left-footed midfielder has drawn widespread praise for his speed, both on and off the ball.

Admir Mehmedi

Born in March 1991 in Macedonia, the Muslim footballer is among the Swiss squad participating now in EURO 2020.

Spending the majority of his youth career at FC Winthertu, the Albanian Mehmedi played his first international match between England and Switzerland in June 2014.

Playing for Switzerland at the UEFA European U-21 Championship 2011, the Muslim forward player made his first international debut in that same year. Mehmedi, 183-cm, has a history of 22 international caps and two international goals.

⚽  Read Also: World’s Most Expensive Player Opens Heart on Islam

Haris Seferovic

The Portuguese club Benfica striker, born in February 1992, started his football career 22 years ago at the age of 7.

Dubbed as one of Switzerland’s finest talents, the Bosnian Muslim footballer was selected to present Switzerland in FIFA World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016.

Seferovic played his debut international match in February 2013 between Greece and Switzerland.

A full international since 2013, the 187-cm striker represented Switzerland at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, earning over 70 caps.

Seferovic’s goal in the 92nd minute in Switzerland’s match against Ecuador, in the last World Cup, in 2014, defined the result of the match, giving his country the first victory in the history of highest ranking FIFA tournaments.

⚽  Read Also: EURO 2020: Muslim Stars to Watch

Djibril Sow

Mohameth Djibril Ibrahima Sow (born 6 February 1997) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Switzerland national team.

Born in Switzerland, Sow is of Senegalese and Swiss descent. He earned his first appearance for the Switzerland national team on 8 September 2018, coming on as a substitute for Steven Zuber in a 6–0 win against Iceland in the UEFA Nations League.In May 2019, he played in 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished fourth.

Bećir Omeragić

Born in 2002 to Bosnian parents, Bećir Omeragić is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for FC Zürich.

Omeragić is a youth international for Switzerland. In September 2020, he had called up to the Switzerland squad for UEFA Nations League fixtures against Ukraine and Germany. He made his debut on 7 October 2020 in a friendly against Croatia.

The post Knocking out World Champion, Meet Swiss Muslim Players appeared first on About Islam.



source https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/sports/knocking-out-world-champion-meet-swiss-muslim-players/
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List of Times and Places Where Dua is Accepted

A short reminder regarding the recommended times of dua . And I think what you need to know here is that the recommended times of dua or recommended things that can cause your dua to be accepted, can be divided into two sort of large groups: Am I Good Enough to Make Dua for Myself? Situations where your dua is accepted. Times where your dua is accepted So I’m going to very briefly mention them one after the other as much as possible. As for situations where your dua has been accepted: – The person who has been wronged or oppressed . – A person who finds themselves in severe difficulty after a calamity has struck. – The person who is traveling. – Someone who is fasting. – The one who is reciting the Quran or has just recited the Quran – Someone who is performing Hajj or Umrah or jihad. – The one who is making dua for someone in their absence . Because we know that when you make dua for someone in his absence an angel says: “ Ameen and to you”. – A person...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Ghuraba (The Strangers): Nasheed with English Subtitles

Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings the strangers. (Sahih Muslim 145) This famous nasheed has many versions; this one is from Muhammad al-Salman and has the subtitles in English embedded. [We are] strangers and we do not bow the foreheads to anyone besides Allah  […] Transliteration to help in the pronounciation:  Ghurabaa’ wa li ghairillaahi laa nahnil jibaa Aisha Stacey  wrote in an article for Aboutislam.net : “I think that many of you would agree that being Muslim in the 21st century makes you well acquainted with being strange. It might even be a metaphor for random, as in you have been randomly selected. […] many converts to Islam will tell you about feeling as if they were strangers, before finding Islam. They will speak of feeling that they belonged somewhere else that their lives were just slightly off center. They often speak about a vague sense of knowing they were not like everyone else...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Taqwa – Living the Main Purpose of Ramadan

Taqwa is a major purpose for the month of Ramadan. The people of taqwa are those who do the things that they are commanded and avoid the things which Allah has made prohibitive. And evidently, to reach a state of taqwa requires vigilance, it requires patience and sincerity. The verse is pertaining to fasting I found in a single set of verses in chapter 2 starting at verse 183: O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous. ( 2:183 ) A Collective Act of Worship Allah is telling us that fasting has been made obligatory and then Allah tells us that just as it was prescribed for those before us. We often get asked this question in Ramadan, “how’s the fast going for us?” And if we gave ourselves a moment to think about it, we see that Allah Most High has made the fast inside the month of Ramadan easy for us because we know that there is a collective spirit to fasting; we know that we’re not alone in this ...
Post a Comment
Read More »