Former Liverpool, Stoke City, Bayern Munich and Inter star Xherdan Shaqiri moved to Switzerland from Kosovo with his family as a one-year-old.
The Yugoslav Wars had begun, with the region was on the cusp of the Kosovo war. Shaqiri saw football as his refuge, saying: ‘In sport, you always have a chance to escape these kind of things. To grow as a person, to be competitive, to learn new cultures.’
He added that he always tries to give his best on the field after Switzerland took in his family with open arms. Switzerland’s current focus is on qualifying for Euro 2024 in Germany and in Group I, his team have been drawn against his home country, Kosovo.
The Chicago Fire winger is excited, saying: ‘It will be a proud moment for sure. I will enjoy every moment to play there because all of my family is going to come and it will be a proud moment for them too’