‘We knew there would be a lot of emotion’: Switzerland and Serbia clash again

Shaqiri – it had to be him – opened the scoring, celebrating in front of the Serbia fans, pointing to his name on the back of his shirt and shushing towards the crowd.

Things really escalated in the second half, with tackles flying in as the crowd started to clash with one another. Next to the press box, one small group were ejected, for what remains unclear. Fifa said they will not comment until more information is available.

The stadium announcer had to warn supporters to stop making discriminatory chats during the second half, while tempers really boiled over at the end of the encounter.

It was alleged that Xhaka grabbed his crotch at one point to try spark a reaction from Serbia players in regards to rumours that Dusan Vlahovic was having an affair with a Serbia teammate’s wife. The provocation worked.

Even the Serbia bench got involved in the mass brawl in stoppage time, with Xhaka grabbed by the throat by goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. Both players were booked, two of 11 yellow cards in the match, and it appeared that the referee, Fernando Rapallini, missed a possible headbutt by Denis Zakaria. Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic got involved for good measure.

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“I saw Granit fully focused on football and he performed very well,” Murat Yakin said. “I saw players from Servbia crossing the lines and some tried to calm them down. Emotions are involved, overall we stayed in control.”

The inquest, however, will continue.

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