Think how many times you have heard the never-ending cliché that politics and sports should not be mixed.
How many times have you come across a senior sports figure (mmmmm, Gianni Infantino) who says that everything that happens should start and end on the grass, or on the parquet or even on the judo mat at the Olympics.
It seems that the current World Cup, which started a little less than two weeks ago, gave us the goshpanka because it is impossible to really make this separation.
The world revolves around relationships between religions, between countries and between peoples.
The fans from Arab countries calling for the liberation of Palestine in Qatar only reinforce the feeling that sport is perhaps the biggest platform for people to express their opinions.
Carry out protests and register small or large revenges.
Ask the midfielder of the Swiss national team - Granit Xhaka.
The player who will be celebrating this coming September 31 will meet tonight with his friends the Serbian national team for a match in which the winner is expected to advance to the round of 16 of the World Cup at the expense of their opponent and for him it is nothing less than a world war.
Xhaka, who has Albanian roots, was born in Switzerland in 1992 after his family was expelled that year from Kosovo by the Serbs and since then he has settled in a country free of enemies.
Xhaka against Russia in the 2018 World Cup:
Xhaka vs Serbia in a group decider.
Game of the incoming tournament.
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"Switzerland is my home, where I was born and raised, but I will never forget my parents' roots. My blood is Albanian and no one can take that away from me. My heart is 50:50 - I can't say I'm more of one than the other. There I have two homes, Switzerland and Kosovo, and that's how it will always remain," he previously explained in an interview.
At the time of the draw for the World Cup in Qatar, the players, coach Murat Yakin and fans were excited about the meeting with Brazil, but they knew even then that the real battle to advance to the knockouts would be against the Serbs, who also came with quite a few expectations of being the Cinderella of the tournament.
The rest of the eyes were on Jaka.
In the previous World Cup in 2018, the teams also met in the group stage.
Serbia led 0:1 but then Xhaka equalized with a great goal and celebrated with an eagle gesture - a symbol that appears on the Albanian flag, when Xherdan Shaqiri, also with roots from Kosovo, scored the winning goal and celebrated with exactly the same gesture.
Xhaka against Brazil.
Switzerland's engine in the center of the field, photo: IPA
Both were fined £7000, were heavily criticized by some Swiss fans, who expected total loyalty and received threats from Serbian fans.
"I regret what happened and I would be a fool if I said I would do it again," Xhaka said after the game, "I only have one passport, the Swiss, and I wear the red shirt of Switzerland with pride."
Local journalists claimed that day that Xhaka was only apologizing for appearances and he was not sorry for anything.
For him it was revenge after years of hearing difficult stories from his family members about the suffering they had suffered.
As the years passed since he started his journey at the luxury club - Basel - Xhaka went on and established his position more and more in the Swiss national team.
He appeared for the first time in the World Cup in 2014 and helped them reach the round of 16, when they were eliminated by the finalist Argentina. Then in Euro 2016 he again helped them reach the round of 16 when in the group stage he faced a difficult moment when he played in the same house with Albania and had to look after his brother Taulant who he chose to play in the country of their parents' origin. A few months after the tournament he received the captain's armband and officially became its unprovoked leader, to this day.
Professionally, something that in the end determines more than anything, Xhaka arrived in Qatar in probably the best form of his career.
He played all of Arsenal's games this season in the league, helping the Gunners take first place and for Mikel Arteta, he is one of the critical players in his lineup, perhaps on the way to the championship they have been waiting for years in North London.
He scored 3 goals and added 3 assists in 14 games and the relationship with the crowd, which went through quite a few ups and downs, reached a great maturity that gives a wonderful atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium.
With the friends in training, photo: AFP
Today against Serbia's strong midfielders, he will have to be at his best.
Serbia needs a win while Switzerland is expected to get a draw as well (depending on what Cameroon does against Brazil), so they will attack from the start to get a goal advantage.
A good performance by Xhaka will secure Switzerland a place in the next round and another victory for the midfielder over his biggest enemy.
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