"Hair, hair!" Shouted Granit Xhaka into the camera when the football miracle was accomplished.

His forefinger raised in front of his lips urged silence.

Shortly before, Yann Sommer had saved the fifth penalty kick for the French and thus catapulted the world champion out of the European championship.

A good deal of satisfaction mingled with Xhaka's joy at this victory, which hardly anyone in the country had thought possible.

Johannes Ritter

Correspondent for politics and business in Switzerland.

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    At the beginning of the tournament, the captain of the "Nati", as the team is called in their home country, found himself in the headlines not because of his athletic performance, but because he had his hair dyed blond and moved his hairdresser to the team quarters Rome had flown in.

    There was a lot of criticism in the Swiss media for this, especially since the team did not know how to convince in the first two games against Wales and Italy.

    With the closed and concentrated appearance against France, however, the public debate about outward appearances and vanities should come to an abrupt end.

    "Hairdresser, tattoos, cars, et cetera, et cetera", Xhaka said later, "today we shut up a lot of people".

    But in the press conference after the game, the Arsenal player found conciliatory words: “All Swiss, no matter where they live, can be proud of this team.

    We made history today. "

    Swiss "SUMMER fairy tale"

    In fact, for the first time since the 1954 World Cup finals, the Swiss made it into the quarter-finals of a major tournament. At that time, the German team succeeded in the “miracle of Bern”. Now, as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote, referring to the venue on Monday evening, the Swiss have accomplished the “miracle of Bucharest”. The Swiss had finally shed the burden of history, commented the newspaper. And: “You were right, the players who always said how good they were. They have their game and their victory for eternity. "

    "The rooster in the pan is going crazy", cheered the Swiss tabloid "Blick" with a look at the national symbol of the French and spoke of the "greatest Nati victory of all time".

    And of course the play on words from the “SUMMER fairy tale” could not be missing: This refers to goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who parried the decisive shot by France's superstar Kylian Mbappé on penalties.

    "It's incredible.

    I could cry, ”said the Borussia Mönchengladbach player on Swiss television.

    Sommer could hardly believe his luck: “It's incredibly nice that we beat the world champion.

    And we deserved it because we fought, because we played with courage and conviction. "

    English football icon Gary Lineker also paid respect to the Swiss and their goalkeeper.

    He wrote on Twitter: “What a game.

    What a tournament.

    What a day.

    What a summer. ”The Swiss cabaret artist Patti Basler scolded:“ It's the summer of our lives! ”

    The fact that the Swiss team beat the highly regarded European Championship favorites caused huge cheers in the Swiss Confederation.

    Despite the rain, hundreds of fans danced and sang in Zurich at midnight on Langstrasse, the city's nightlife district.

    Cars honking their way through the city center.

    There was also a party atmosphere on the Bundesplatz in Bern.

    Pictures of celebrating fans also came from many other cities such as Lausanne, Lucerne, Thun, Solothurn and Aarau.

    The only downer in this spectacular evening from a Swiss point of view is the second yellow card for Xhaka. This means that the captain is suspended for the quarter-finals against Spain on Friday. Xhaka himself is convinced that the Swiss can defeat Spain without him. He is looking forward to the semi-finals in his adopted home of London, he said.