Doha. It was said that it would be different this time.
No politics, just football. No incitement, just respect.
And it was also a theory.
Late evening in South Doha, Qatar, December 2022. Three sides of the stands sway to the same chorus: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia, its heart, its heart”. Kosovo is the heart of Serbia.
At times, it can feel as though the war in the Balkans never ended, and has been going on since 1389 and the Battle of Trastfältet.
It seems that it doesn’t matter how much time passes or how far we stray from the epicenter – the fateful echoes of the past and the future are always there.
Truce and pause sometimes, but always mentally ready for battle, always on the powder keg waiting for the next spark of the match.
Sometimes the bellows can be a license plate in Mitrovica. Again two hands in the form of an eagle on a football field or a flag in the locker room.
You have certainly seen this flag that the Serbian national team brought to the opening match against Brazil. “no giving up”On a map where Kosovo became part of Serbia. no giving up.
If you haven’t seen it, I can assure you that Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both did. Xhaka with a father who was locked up for several years in a Yugoslav dungeon as a political prisoner. Shakiri and his childhood home in Kosovo were ransacked after the family was forced to flee.
Political slogans continued from the stands
While all sides agreed to tone down the political tones ahead of this match – quelling the 2018 overheating – it was clear the mood could pick up quickly.
In fact, all it took was Xherdan Shaqiri to show up. From the first second the boos against him were vicious and ferocious – and there was an air of inevitability that he would make the match his own.
Third consecutive World Cup final goal, alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the podium. 1-0 to Switzerland and Shaqiri who admitted giving up the eagle this time, but celebrated excessively under the Serbian curve with his silent fingers and pointing to the Albanian name on his jersey.
Then it started.
All of the constant political slogans from the stands – and the football fireworks which anyway generate energy partly from there.
Aleksandar Mitrović made it 1-1, and celebrated with the Orthodox sign of the cross. Dusan Vlahović made it 2-1, chanting as he repeatedly touched his crotch, as a comment on the infidelity rumors surrounding him.
On the touchline, Serbian national team captain Dragan Stojković celebrated loudly, and those who could read Slavic languages could take offense as he used both mothers and sexualities and derogatory words for Albanians.
Suddenly, Serbia was in the lead. They attacked like Brazil, but defended like Brage.
Collectively, the areas behind their wings got so big, singles Nikola Milinkovic would have won the World Cup from hell.
Switzerland didn’t even have to make an effort to equalise, but then collected their entire showtime record to regain the lead.
Xherdan Shaqiri managed to reach the age of 31, and he disappeared from the European limelight. He’s playing football with Chicago Fire these days – but if you offer a decisive win against Serbia, it’s as if he came here on a transformer that turns him into a very compact and short Zinedine Zidane.
When Switzerland regained the lead, he was again the leader of the lineup, mellowing on an opening pass that Ruben Vargas scored next.
Supporter was taken
With just over 20 minutes left in the match, Xherdan Shaqiri walked off the field. done here. Progress is practically guaranteed.
With Serbia’s World Cup dream gradually running out of steam, we had to try and remind ourselves that it was actually Switzerland who were up against, not Albania.
When Briel Embolo got into a skirmish – the Swiss-Cameroonian striker shouted – someone in the stands siptars for him. The guards removed a female supporter from the ring, her hands triumphantly forming into the image of the Albanian Eagle. Granit Xhaka stepped on the Serbian bench, and those who can read the Albanian tongue can find moms and libido this time too.
Loudspeakers at 974 Stadium urged the public to refrain from “discriminatory shouts and gestures”.
The shouts subsided with time, and the speakers’ choruses fell silent.
Two more roars erupted in injury time – with Granit Xhaka in the centre – but when the final whistle blew, there was no one singing about Kosovo in the stands anymore. Then there was only silence.