When Yann Sommer talks about his teammates from the Swiss national team, he always uses similar phrases.
Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund "didn't always have it easy", says the goalkeeper, who played this Wednesday at the EM with his confederates in Rome against Italy (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the soccer EM, on ARD and MagentaTV ) plays.
The same applies to the Gladbacher Breel Embolo, which was plagued by injuries for years and hit the headlines in winter because it is said to have participated in a party that was illegal due to the Corona restrictions. Granit Xhaka also had “not always had an easy time”, says Sommer, who at this moment sounds like he is the teacher of a shared apartment full of boys with a difficult childhood. Xhaka hit the headlines just last week with a new escapade.
Many Swiss raised their eyebrows in amazement when the story of Xhaka's visit to a tattoo studio between the training camp and the departure of the European Championship became known. “Granit made a mistake,” said Pierluigi Tami, the director of the national team, after all, such an action carries the risk of infection with the corona virus, which would have thrown the entire EM project into chaos. The skin has now healed and everything has gone well.
Once again it became clear that Xhaka is not only a great footballer, but also a guy with a strong tendency to provoke controversy.
Nevertheless - or maybe because of that - he is the captain of Switzerland, probably the best footballer in the "Nati", as the team is called.
One who always balances on the edge between the desire not to be bent and the danger of harming his team.
The pose with the double-headed eagle
His cheers at the 2018 World Cup against Serbia are unforgettable, when Xhaka and other players formed a double-headed eagle with their hands that adorns the flag of Kosovo-Albania. His family comes from this part of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia, the opponent of that time, does not want to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation. The hand signal was a provocation. The pose sparked heated socio-political discussions in Switzerland, with which many players in the team did not want to have anything to do with. To this day it is unclear whether the anemic 0: 1 in the following round of 16 against the Swedes was a result of these events.
In any case, for the third time in a row, the Swiss were just eliminated from the group of the best 16 teams at a major tournament, as they did at the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship. Now this golden generation around Xhaka finally wants to surpass itself.
“We want to make history,” says Xhaka.
To do this, he has to cause a stir with sporting deeds and not with his tendency to produce unrest.
During the years at Borussia Mönchengladbach he was a regular offense, just like in England, where he plays for Arsenal FC.
At first he flew off the pitch far too often, once he insulted fans and had to apologize.
Last December, he was banned from Burnley FC after a grip on Ashley Westwood's throat, and he and his family receive vicious abuse on social media.
In Rome and Baku against the audience
These are the moments that Sommer means when he talks about Xhaka's difficult times, but: "Granite grew as a result," believes the goalkeeper, who describes his colleague as the "heart" of the Swiss team.
He is “very happy that Granit has made this personal development like this,” says Sommer, and Xhaka himself explains: “We have enormous qualities and a lot of experience.
Our expectations are high. ”Since the 1-1 draw in the opening game against Wales, however, the strong team has again been suspected of failing to exhaust their potential.
Xhaka and his colleagues played well over long stretches, but they lacked a greater consistency in goal completion and the ability to survive tough periods of the opponent without conceding a goal to win. Skeptical, as the Swiss are often, are already being warned of an impending end of the preliminary round because there are two games against Italy in Rome and then in Baku against Turkey in front of a rather hostile audience.
However, Xhaka will want to offer the people in Italy's capital something very special. Allegedly, a change of the midfielder from Arsenal FC to AS Roma is firmly agreed, Corriere dello Sport already reports on details such as the salary and the contract period. Such a transfer would also be an escape from England, where Xhaka had good moments and recently had a very solid season, but where he never really got warm with the fans.
Rome coach José Mourinho, on the other hand, is a fan of the Swiss. He once described him as "the most important man in midfield at Arsenal FC". Knowing the many Xhaka skeptics, he added: “You cannot see this unless I lend you one of my eyes. Without him, Arsenal is lost, he is a leader. ”At the European Championship, the Swiss expect that not only people with Mourinho-eyed eyes will see Xhaka's skills, but the entire tournament audience.