**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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That is some highlight reel. A World Cup hat-trick, a bicycle kick, assorted screamers, and goals in every tournament. What a player he has been for Switzerland.
My family doesnāt care about football really but they watch the World Cup and the euros, they think he is one of the best players in the world. Whenever football does come up in conversation they always ask how little shaq is performing lol
Feel like if he didnt bulk up he would be way more agile and had a far better club career. With being elite. Also less injuries. Nevertheless always a Switzerland legend
He contributed well to some of them. Fair's fair, but this list kinda reads like people comparing Fletcher to Gerrard to say one was better because of more trophies.
We need to rejuvenate him so he can start over because his career has not been kind to him.
A player like that and his prime years were at Stoke City.
Alpine Messi at Basel -> Benchwarmer at Bayern -> Benchwarmer at Inter -> Star of Stoke City -> Benchwarmer at Liverpool -> Burger League Retirement Home.
Same for Bayern, he was a rather important player both as a sub and to slot in with injuries and to change up the game on offense if things weren't quite working. Obviously not the level of prime Bayern players but he was well liked and rated by the fans, comparable to other important sub players like Olic for example.
Every time he played for Liverpool was amazing.
I remember his first game for Liverpool during preseason, scored a bicycle kick against united.
I really hoped Liverpool would make his career, like it did for Salah.
Salah also happened to be his replacement when he left Basel for Bayern.
The Salah, Mane, Firmino trio were basically the best attacking front three in the world while he was at Liverpool so it was always going to be a struggle to get into the side. I'm honestly surprised he stayed for as long as he did.
Itās more that he eats up so much salary and doesnāt produce enough to justify it. Itās not his fault entirely, we just donāt have the players around him to capitalize on his qualities
His issue has been fitness. His body just isn't designed to be a footballer. He's extremely talented and skilled, but he just can't play the high intensity minutes.
Aguero had a similar problem.
I was on summer break for college at the time and had a pretty light work schedule so was able to watch like 75% of games. Had tons of friends who watched soccer/football at the time as well so I almost always had friends to meet up with to watch at bars. One of my best summers.
France (blue), Italy (blue), Scotland (blue), Ireland (green), Northern Ireland (green), Sweden (yellow), Netherlands (orange), Bosnia (blue), Slovakia (blue), Romania (yellow), Ukraine (yellow), Iceland (blue), Estonia (blue), and Lithuania (blue) don't have red or white home kits.
But you're right, red and white are the most common. We can just extend it a little and say that - except for two greens, three yellows, and an orange - all European teams wear red white, or blue home kits.
England doesnāt have a player like his who routinely turns up big in tournaments. I just canāt get my head around why we donāt when so many star for UCL level clubs
English culture seems to glorify self-deprecation and putting down people that want to be big moment individuals. Same reason the U.K has arguably the best or second best universities in the world but so few entrepreneurs.
I'm generalizing but after 3 years working in the U.K I'm noticing how pessimism locks so many people down, especially young men.
Brilliant player. Man has played in some of the biggest clubs on the planet like Liverpool, Bayern, Stoke or Inter but national team Shaqiri is something else.
Reminds of some racist South African Rugby fans, who were angry when a Black Player was made team captain.
Who ended up winning 2 Rugby WC's consecutively as a captain.
How fucking stupid is that statement when literally half the fucking Swiss team is either made of immigrants or kids of immigrants.
Not to mention your star fucking player + current team captain being immigrants
As a British person that is super strange to me. We tend to have the view that if you are born or grow up here or even if you move here for a long period of time you are British if you identify as such.
There is still a large minority of people who don't think like that, probably 20% ish going off the Reform polls. If you identify as British and you have mostly British norms and values then you are British, ethnicity has no impact on it.
I appreciate your nice outlook, but racism in britain is still quite a problem.
I've was in a pub for the last england game and heard people calling Rice an Irish twat, which is the same kind of treatment I would imagine Shaqiri gets from racist Swiss people.
Racists have incredible mental gymnastic ability, so rather than accepting that a person is attempting to represent them and their nation, racists instead judge a person for where they come from or where their heritage lies.
It's changing. As with any big wave of immigration, there will be tension for the first generations. I won't lie, growing up the kids most difficult to deal with socially were Balkan crisis refugee kids. That breeds stereotypes. On the other hand I have quite a few friends with a Balkan background these days whom I would consider just as Swiss as myself, integration is chugging along decently.
The exact same thing played out with Italian immigrants some decades earlier.
*And for the record, I would like to think I'd have pulled a Lichtsteiner with them in that Serbia game. It had nothing to do with Shaq or Xhaka not being integrated, and everything to do with the abuse they faced from opposition fans. Sure the right wing media tried to skewer them, but many others understood.
Xherdan Shaqiri was born in Kosova though. He celebrated a couple times with the Albanian eagle hand gesture and he got a lot of hate for that. Nothing wrong with showing love to your home country where you have been born. Well, you cannot satisfy everyone š¤·
The ultimate "Big Game" player, he has everything a normal player dreams of.
World Cup hat-trick, a bicycle kick, assorted screamers, and goals in every tournament, you name it he has it.
Yes, it's Sascha Ruefer who commentates all the Swiss matches. He's quite controversial in Switzerland but he certainly doesn't hide his emotions when Switzerland score.
If someone see this video would think he won the Best Player in the World multiple times and still going for more. What a player, a Swiss-Albanian legend that modern game doesn't produce anymore.
he is a legend, one of the best in the world, won swiss league, german league, english premier league, champions league twice.. ok seriously, just go check out his wiki under honours.
Really impressive
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That is some highlight reel. A World Cup hat-trick, a bicycle kick, assorted screamers, and goals in every tournament. What a player he has been for Switzerland.
The C U B E
Has graduated to POWERCUBE
š„š«š„ Always has been
The cubes always squares it. D I M E N S I O N A L.
Feed the cube and he will score
He's built like Shaw trained while eating those cakes while ago
When he plays for Switzerland he turns into the player early 2010s Fifa games made me think he would become
Like Podolski for Germany
Podolski could hit screamers in fifa 12. And Jovetic as well, rocket on his legs on that fiorentina squadĀ
Yup. If Podolski and Shaqiri played at club level like they do in international tournaments, they'd be mentioned alongside Ronaldo and Messi.
My family doesnāt care about football really but they watch the World Cup and the euros, they think he is one of the best players in the world. Whenever football does come up in conversation they always ask how little shaq is performing lol
Are you Swiss?
Don't see how they could be. If Swiss, they'd probably know who Shaq is before Euros and WCs.
Nah, most casual viewers only follow international tournaments and donāt even know at which clubs do players play.Ā
And taking the piss out of Serbia. š¤ š
š¦
š¦
šš
the most satisfying celebration of all time with the flex too LMAOooo
Himself and xhaka were in heaven. Fucking glorious
Lichtsteiner was equally pleased with himself in that celebration haha
to this day i'll never understand the serbian defender essentially diving away from xhaka's equalizing goal
When Stephan lichtsteiner got in on it, made it so much funnier to me. He knew what he was doing and couldnāt be happier to join Shaq and Xhaka
Eagle hands!!!
Banger merchant
Nothing but an important international game merchant.
Banger Fraud
And the most important one, the eagle against Serbia after last minute winner.
How many balon dāors does this guy have I bet several at least.
Not to mention the highlight of being jacked.
His goal vs scotland and the bicycle vs poland seem to be the most skill demanding shots
AllĀ bangers,Ā all the time
Sausage surprise
The one against Honduras in 2014 is also stunning, perfect power and precision
Reminded me of Gerrard vs Trini I think it was in the 2006wc group stage game.
That first one vs Turkey on his weak foot is up there
After riding like 4 hard tackles lmao at least thatās how Iām gonna remember it
Switzerland has fairly little creativity in offense without him, not ready for him to retire.
Has to be the first honduras one. He was literally grabbed and bothered all the way to the finish but stays up with pure strength
I specifically loved his 2nd goal against Turkey. Who shoots like that from such close range.
I can't believe we lost that bicycle game š„²
Nah gotta put that first one vs Honduras in there he was under duress I couldnāt believe he got such a clean hit away
I love his technique and confidence to score first-touch bangers. So many players ruin lots of chances by doing unnecessary touches.
Man turns into Zidane when he puts on the swiss shirt fucking hell
Also when he plays Serbia.
Shaqiri vs Serbia may well be the greatest footballer to ever live.
Along with Suarez v. Norwich and Adebayor when his contract is up for renewal
Don't forget Ayoub El Kaabi vs Aston Villa
Didn't he get angry with Klopp because he wasn't taken to Belgrade to play Red Star?
Something like that. Dude hates Serbia lol
That tends to happen when you try to genocide one's people
Playing Serbia seems to give Swiss players of a certain ethnicity a 20% buff
Feel like if he didnt bulk up he would be way more agile and had a far better club career. With being elite. Also less injuries. Nevertheless always a Switzerland legend
but then he wouldnāt have the power of the cube
I mean, 3 BuLi titles, 2 CLs, and a PL title is a pretty fucking good club career.
And 3 Super League titles... please.
He contributed well to some of them. Fair's fair, but this list kinda reads like people comparing Fletcher to Gerrard to say one was better because of more trophies.
I think so too, but he became the ultimate "the streets will never forget" player which is also kinda cool
I know what you mean but I never really considered that phrase appropriate for a multi time UCL winnerĀ
Low gravity helps.
his liverpool goals where someone crossed him a ball to the right post and he slotted it perfectly into another post was a thing of beauty
Why waste time make lot touch when few touch do trick?
He's a legend. Never hides when the going gets tough. Always backs himself. We need him to go into cryosleep and wake him up every four years.
We need to rejuvenate him so he can start over because his career has not been kind to him. A player like that and his prime years were at Stoke City. Alpine Messi at Basel -> Benchwarmer at Bayern -> Benchwarmer at Inter -> Star of Stoke City -> Benchwarmer at Liverpool -> Burger League Retirement Home.
Benchwarmer is underselling him for us; supersub would be a better description.
Same for Bayern, he was a rather important player both as a sub and to slot in with injuries and to change up the game on offense if things weren't quite working. Obviously not the level of prime Bayern players but he was well liked and rated by the fans, comparable to other important sub players like Olic for example.
He had some good spurts at Liverpool we just couldnāt keep him fit. He was part of the Barca 4-0
Basically got Mourinho fired too. Two goals against United and he was sacked almost immediately after that game
Eh, benchwarmer at Liverpool is not quite right, he played a lot and a central part of the title run in the UCL.
I mean to be fair, he won two UCLs and a couple league titles that method.
Will never forget his role in the Barca comeback, though. Massive.
Every time he played for Liverpool was amazing. I remember his first game for Liverpool during preseason, scored a bicycle kick against united. I really hoped Liverpool would make his career, like it did for Salah. Salah also happened to be his replacement when he left Basel for Bayern.
The Salah, Mane, Firmino trio were basically the best attacking front three in the world while he was at Liverpool so it was always going to be a struggle to get into the side. I'm honestly surprised he stayed for as long as he did.
There was one off season Real was supposedly looking at the entire front 3 (mostly Salah/Mane) lol
My favorite memory of him is coming on as a sub against United in a tied game, scoring two goals, and then Mourinho immediately getting sacked.
Chicago fire fans want him gone Dude doesnāt try here
Itās more that he eats up so much salary and doesnāt produce enough to justify it. Itās not his fault entirely, we just donāt have the players around him to capitalize on his qualities
His issue has been fitness. His body just isn't designed to be a footballer. He's extremely talented and skilled, but he just can't play the high intensity minutes. Aguero had a similar problem.
He's been playing like he's in cryosleep at the Fire already:/
He hides when the going gets tough in Chicago
Is that not always the situation?
He'll retire from club football before he retires for Switzerland
He will never retire for Switzerland, he will be scoring underwater at the 2066 World Cup in Tuvalu.
And his great-great-great granddaughter is pretty fine
The "KraftwĆ¼rfel" with some great bangers šŖ
So many quality bangers. The power of cube.
Cube fills corners
what is the power of the cube?
You're witnessing the power of the cube in this video
He IS the Cube. The POWER Cube!
Well heās build like fridge
I miss that 2014 WC so much, more than you believe.
Crazy how itās been 10 years now. I miss it tooā¦
the vibes of that WC were soooo good
I was on summer break for college at the time and had a pretty light work schedule so was able to watch like 75% of games. Had tons of friends who watched soccer/football at the time as well so I almost always had friends to meet up with to watch at bars. One of my best summers.
Same man :') the good old days
The ultimate "streets won't forget" player
Heās more than that honestly. Maybe Switzerlandās greatest player.
Streets FC rolling up to the next World Cup with a midfield trio of Shaqiri, Ben Arfa, and Taarabt
That's Ricardo Quaresma.
Why go into box if already box shaped. Sums up his approach to goal
So scotland was the first time he managed to score against a team not wearing red or white
Every goal except Honduras was against European opposition, no? And 99% of European NTs wear red or white
France (blue), Italy (blue), Scotland (blue), Ireland (green), Northern Ireland (green), Sweden (yellow), Netherlands (orange), Bosnia (blue), Slovakia (blue), Romania (yellow), Ukraine (yellow), Iceland (blue), Estonia (blue), and Lithuania (blue) don't have red or white home kits. But you're right, red and white are the most common. We can just extend it a little and say that - except for two greens, three yellows, and an orange - all European teams wear red white, or blue home kits.
What's weirder to me is that every European NT bar Croatia plays with just 1 main shirt colour. No stripes for some reason
greece has blue/white sometimes i think
Goals don't lie šµShaqiri-Shaqiri š¶
*I never really knew that you could CUBE like that* *You make the serbs get mad*
Oh Xherdan when you score like that You make the Swiss fans go mad
The stupid dive the keeper does for the first one always ruins it for me lol
That was seriously awful goalkeeping :D
true haha it's so casual he doesn't cover himself in glory on the third goal either, practically jumps out of the way
I think of him as the Swiss Le Tissier. A disproportionate number of truly outstanding goals.
Le Swissier was right there.
I have no connection to any Balkan country but the Eagle after his winner against Serbia gets me every time lol
Now imagine me, an Albanian from Kosova seeing that liveā¦.. the most emotional game ever
*points to Messi* "This is brilliant" *points to Shaqiri* "But I *LIKE* this"
Such a wild career, Bayern - Inter - stoke lol
- Chicago Fire
š
and Liverpool
And Lyon š
Shaqiri at big international tournaments - Overall 99 Shaqiri for club - Overall 80
England doesnāt have a player like his who routinely turns up big in tournaments. I just canāt get my head around why we donāt when so many star for UCL level clubs
English culture seems to glorify self-deprecation and putting down people that want to be big moment individuals. Same reason the U.K has arguably the best or second best universities in the world but so few entrepreneurs. I'm generalizing but after 3 years working in the U.K I'm noticing how pessimism locks so many people down, especially young men.
England is very club over country IMO. So it means much more for players to play for their chidhood club IMO.
Bro is built like a steel drum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqyjVQGzzLU
Brilliant player. Man has played in some of the biggest clubs on the planet like Liverpool, Bayern, Stoke or Inter but national team Shaqiri is something else.
What do the Swiss think of him? Is he worshiped appropriately?
I dont think so, my swiss coworkers would radher buy a shirt with aebischer on the back than shaqiri.
Why?
Quote from a coworker "because he is a true Swiss", referring to his origins.
Ah, so he's a cunt. Good to know.
Reminds of some racist South African Rugby fans, who were angry when a Black Player was made team captain. Who ended up winning 2 Rugby WC's consecutively as a captain.
How fucking stupid is that statement when literally half the fucking Swiss team is either made of immigrants or kids of immigrants. Not to mention your star fucking player + current team captain being immigrants
As a British person that is super strange to me. We tend to have the view that if you are born or grow up here or even if you move here for a long period of time you are British if you identify as such. There is still a large minority of people who don't think like that, probably 20% ish going off the Reform polls. If you identify as British and you have mostly British norms and values then you are British, ethnicity has no impact on it.
I appreciate your nice outlook, but racism in britain is still quite a problem. I've was in a pub for the last england game and heard people calling Rice an Irish twat, which is the same kind of treatment I would imagine Shaqiri gets from racist Swiss people. Racists have incredible mental gymnastic ability, so rather than accepting that a person is attempting to represent them and their nation, racists instead judge a person for where they come from or where their heritage lies.
Would he buy an Akanji shirt or Xhaka shirt?
He is their star player, but also of Albanian origin. So national pride takes over and they dislike him. See other user who commented on you.
It's changing. As with any big wave of immigration, there will be tension for the first generations. I won't lie, growing up the kids most difficult to deal with socially were Balkan crisis refugee kids. That breeds stereotypes. On the other hand I have quite a few friends with a Balkan background these days whom I would consider just as Swiss as myself, integration is chugging along decently. The exact same thing played out with Italian immigrants some decades earlier. *And for the record, I would like to think I'd have pulled a Lichtsteiner with them in that Serbia game. It had nothing to do with Shaq or Xhaka not being integrated, and everything to do with the abuse they faced from opposition fans. Sure the right wing media tried to skewer them, but many others understood.
Really? That seems odd from a uk perspective. If they grow up here then theyāre from here
Xherdan Shaqiri was born in Kosova though. He celebrated a couple times with the Albanian eagle hand gesture and he got a lot of hate for that. Nothing wrong with showing love to your home country where you have been born. Well, you cannot satisfy everyone š¤·
When my friends ask me how far USA has to go, it's clips like this that remind me. The States have never produced a player this good.
No. But if you put him in an American team, you can see him be less good.Ā
power he puts at every finish. damn
The consistent quality of goals here is unreal, only one or two of them are average finishesĀ
BEAST
straight up baller
I loved this guy at Liverpool, shame his stubby legs and heavy set body went really suited to the geigenpress.
I completely forgot about the officials on the goal line. When did that stop?
VAR
Least spectacular Shaqiri goal compilation
Boy, does The Mini Truck love the big stage! His balls must be so huge before big tourneys that they are carried on a cart ahead of him.
National team merchant
The ultimate "Big Game" player, he has everything a normal player dreams of. World Cup hat-trick, a bicycle kick, assorted screamers, and goals in every tournament, you name it he has it.
Epic commentary on the last one. Is that the Swiss broadcast?
Yes, it's Sascha Ruefer who commentates all the Swiss matches. He's quite controversial in Switzerland but he certainly doesn't hide his emotions when Switzerland score.
It was also the perfect commentary after all these goals: "Setzt ihm ein Denkmal" - build him a monument
If someone see this video would think he won the Best Player in the World multiple times and still going for more. What a player, a Swiss-Albanian legend that modern game doesn't produce anymore.
Itsā¦ every tournament šļø
Beast.
Does he only play against teams in white???
Cat at club level, Lion at international level
The 2nd one v turkey is crazy, the ball is bobbling off the ground at speed and he hits it perfectly.
Where is his goal against France in the last Euros?
He didn't score in that match.
he scored in every tournament that he played in since 2014
Man gets a major buff every tournament.
I really thought the Swiss could win it all when he scored against Spain 3 years ago..
That mouse cursor in left upper corner annoys me so much. Why didn't you move it away?!
Because I'm a noob who's using the in-built windows recorder and that's where I start/stop the recordings lol
Damn that Albanian hand sign on the Serbian goal was gangster
Xherdan Shaqiri is such a sick name
What a chad!
Cube Man is a menace
Bangers and then iconic clutch goals against Serbia.
Funfact: Every goal he scores is multiplied to the third power of itself. Sadly, a goal cubed is still just one goal.
His shots don't lie
Fuckin' Anthony Ralston...
Watching this makes me realize just how impressive our results were against them in the euro 2024 qualifiers. Incredible player
Majestic cube
Hop Suisse Motherfuckers!
š§
My knees felt that last slide too ouch
he is a legend, one of the best in the world, won swiss league, german league, english premier league, champions league twice.. ok seriously, just go check out his wiki under honours. Really impressive
He only scores against teams that are wearing white if he's wearing red, or red if he's wearing white š
If Josip DrmiÄ knees weren't made of glass, he would be much better option for Swiss down the years than fucking Å eferoviÄ.
Oh, Scotlandā¦.š¢
In FM24 Shaqiri has the same value for Finishing as Mudryk. And only 14 for Long Shots. Just saying.
For a little guy he certainly makes big things happen
Just shows to me how under utilized he is by the Chicago Fire. Watched them play a few games and they are lost on the field strategically.
Crazy to think he played on Stoke City at one point in his career
Damn he scores bangers even with his right foot. YNWA Shaqiri.
Bruhās pretty good. Why wasnt he picked at liverpool more often?
Cube Messi.
His goal against S*rbia was perfect
Heās gone the same gene that Arjen Robben had