Xherdan Shaqiri
Xherdan Shaqiri
Shaqiri scores two stunners for Stoke
Stoke City won their first Premier League away match of the season with a 2-0 win at Hull City. Xherdan Shaqiri was the star of the show with two fantastic strikes. His first goal arrived in the 26th minute. Shaqiri cut inside a defender and hit a powerful shot into the top right corner of the net with his left foot. Stoke's and Shaqiri's second goal came five minutes into the second half. This time it was a free-kick and he found the exact same spot he had found in the first half, smashing the ball into the top right corner. Hull City had no answer to Shaqiri's magic and Stoke finished the match comfortably. The Potters move up to 16th place and are now unbeaten in four matches. Hull are down in 18th place and have lost their last five Premier League matches.
He'll definitely score more this season. Stoke manager, Mark Hughes.
What do we know about Xherdan Shaqiri?
Xherdan Shaqiri was born on 10 October 1991 in Gjilan, in the east of Kosovo. Shaqiri emigrated to Switzerland with his parents and three brothers and sisters when he was just a baby. Shaqiri grew up in the Swiss city of Basel, which is very close to the borders of France and Germany. He played for youth teams in the local area and signed his first professional contract with FC Basel in 2009. He played for the club for three years and won the league and cup double twice with the team. In 2012, Shaqiri made a big move. He moved to Germany to play for one of the giants of world football - Bayern Munich. He helped the club win the treble (German league, cup and Champions League) for the first time in the club's history and will always be part of one of Bayern Munich's best-ever squads. In 2015, he moved to Italy to play for Inter Milan, but the move wasn't a success. After six months and only 20 appearances he moved again. This time it was to the Premier League when Stoke City made Shaqiri their record signing.
I am like every player - I want to win trophies. I want to play in Europe with Stoke. Xherdan Shaqiri.
Which other Premier League players have won the Champions League?
Xherdan Shaqiri has a Champions League winner's medal from his time at Bayern Munich and it may surprise you that a few more Stoke players have Champions League winner's medals, too. Marc Muniesa, Bojan Krkic and Ibrahim Affellay all won the Champions League when they were with Barcelona. There are plenty more Champions League winners in the Premier League and some of them may surprise you. Take a look at the list, did you know that these players had won the Champions League?
| Player | Current Club | When and with who? |
| Darren Fletcher | West Brom | Manchester Utd 2007/08 |
| Ryan Bertrand | Southampton | Chelsea 2011/12 |
| Victor Valdes | Middlesbrough | Barcelona 2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11 |
| Emre Can | Liverpool | Bayern Munich 2012/13 |
| John O'Shea | Sunderland | Manchester Utd 2007/08 |
Which country to play for?
Xherdan Shaqiri was born in Kosovo, which, was then part of Yugoslavia, while his family have Albanian roots, too. As was mentioned earlier, Shaqiri emigrated to Switzerland when he was a baby and ended up playing for the Swiss national team (he has 59 caps) but he could have played for a number of countries. Kosovo was given FIFA status this year and it might even be possible for Shaqiri to switch to the country of his birth even though he has already played for Switzerland. As more and more people move countries, people's allegiances become less and less clear. When Switzerland played Albania at Euro 2016, seven players in the Albanian squad were born in Switzerland and six players in the Swiss squad were eligible to play for Albania. The strangest thing of all, however, was the fact that Arsenal's Granit Xhaka was playing for Switzerland and his brother, Taulant Xhaka, was playing for Albania. Who do you think their parents were supporting?
How much Football English did you learn?
There was a lot of football vocabulary in this article. Try the quiz below and test your understanding of football vocabulary. You can find all the answers in bold in the text above.
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What do you think?
Xherdan Shaqiri scored two fantastic goals last weekend. Did you see them? Are they the best of the season so far?
Did you know that Shaqiri had won the Champions League? Were you surprised by any of the other players in our list?
Xherdan Shaqiri could have played for a number of different countries before he chose Switzerland. What do you think about this?
Were any players in your national team born in a different country? Do you think players should be able to change the country that they play for?
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Comments
04/10/2022
points
I never figure out this matter that sometimes a high performance player why isn't success when transferred in the new team.
In my opinion choosing the national team of country which is being lived can't be concerned to the allegiance.It's a personal preferance.
04/10/2022 16:46
Tottenham Hotspur
5558
I never figure out this matter that sometimes a high performance player why isn't success when transferred in the new team.
In my opinion choosing the national team of country which is being lived can't be concerned to the allegiance.It's a personal preferance.
27/06/2020
points
I think that he had chosen the country that will make him more famous and his current country as well.
27/06/2020 16:42
Manchester United
6539
I think that he had chosen the country that will make him more famous and his current country as well.
27/06/2020
points
Xherdan Shaqiri scored two incredible goals and they were from the best in that season.
I knew that he had won the Champions League before but the one who surprised me was Ryan Bertrand who had won it with Chelsea.
27/06/2020 16:41
Manchester United
6539
Xherdan Shaqiri scored two incredible goals and they were from the best in that season.
I knew that he had won the Champions League before but the one who surprised me was Ryan Bertrand who had won it with Chelsea.
19/08/2017
points
Hello everybody I'm a fan of Chelsea and I'm nationality is Vietnam.
19/08/2017 17:17
Chelsea
93
Hello everybody I'm a fan of Chelsea and I'm nationality is Vietnam.
25/06/2017
points
I've got 100%.
25/06/2017 11:59
Manchester United
325
I've got 100%.
28/01/2017
points
I think it players should continue with the national team that they started with,it is not good change.
28/01/2017 11:40
Liverpool
3705
I think it players should continue with the national team that they started with,it is not good change.
28/01/2017
points
I think every one has to choose his original country.
28/01/2017 11:38
Liverpool
3705
I think every one has to choose his original country.
28/01/2017
points
I know that he won the UCL with bayern Munich.the most player i am surprised with is oshea.
28/01/2017 11:37
Liverpool
3705
I know that he won the UCL with bayern Munich.the most player i am surprised with is oshea.
28/01/2017
points
They are amazing and they are the best until now.
28/01/2017 11:13
Liverpool
3705
They are amazing and they are the best until now.
06/11/2016
points
Wow . It's very best for me.
06/11/2016 08:37
Hull City AFC
372
Wow . It's very best for me.
02/11/2016
points
Correct me.
Unfortunately, i didnt see his goals but i definately will watch !
First time i saw him - it was time when he play in Munich. I saw him and remember him for a long time because he is an amazing player.
I think need to change someting in national team challenges. From year to year it is more and more boring.I dont watch this kind of matches a lot.
02/11/2016 06:25
Chelsea
241
Correct me.
Unfortunately, i didnt see his goals but i definately will watch !
First time i saw him - it was time when he play in Munich. I saw him and remember him for a long time because he is an amazing player.
I think need to change someting in national team challenges. From year to year it is more and more boring.I dont watch this kind of matches a lot.
02/11/2016
points
Hi Emil
I don't have any problems understanding your answers but I've made a couple of corrections below for you to think about.
Unfortunately, I didn't see his goals but I will definitely watch them (1)!
First time i saw him - it was
timewhen he was playing (2) in Munich. I saw him and remember him for a long time because he is an amazing player.I think need to change someting in national team challenges. From year to year it is more and more boring.I dont watch
thisthese (3) kind of matches a lot.Hope this helps and thanks for your comment.
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
02/11/2016 08:26
Liverpool
594
Hi Emil
I don't have any problems understanding your answers but I've made a couple of corrections below for you to think about.
Unfortunately, I didn't see his goals but I will definitely watch them (1)!
First time i saw him - it was
timewhen he was playing (2) in Munich. I saw him and remember him for a long time because he is an amazing player.I think need to change someting in national team challenges. From year to year it is more and more boring.I dont watch
thisthese (3) kind of matches a lot.Hope this helps and thanks for your comment.
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
30/10/2016
points
All players listed are surprising for me. Perhaps they were not between the best of the Champions League winners.
Yes with the current rules he could have played for Kosovo or Albania either or another country of his choice.
Algerian national team have been built from a lot of French natives or Algerian migrants for years. They helped as national players making Algeria independent from year 1958 when Zitouni and his teammate joined the FLN organisation.
30/10/2016 14:23
Manchester City
3988
All players listed are surprising for me. Perhaps they were not between the best of the Champions League winners.
Yes with the current rules he could have played for Kosovo or Albania either or another country of his choice.
Algerian national team have been built from a lot of French natives or Algerian migrants for years. They helped as national players making Algeria independent from year 1958 when Zitouni and his teammate joined the FLN organisation.
29/10/2016
points
Yes Kevin Prince Boateng even thou he isn't part of the squard now he was born in Germany ut played for ghana with his brother playing for the German team.
Tim Fosu Mensah can also play for Ghana, Holland and England s it stands now.
Yes players should be able to change the country they play for if their services aren't utilitied.
29/10/2016 10:38
Manchester United
4779
Yes Kevin Prince Boateng even thou he isn't part of the squard now he was born in Germany ut played for ghana with his brother playing for the German team.
Tim Fosu Mensah can also play for Ghana, Holland and England s it stands now.
Yes players should be able to change the country they play for if their services aren't utilitied.
29/10/2016
points
It provides him the opportunity to make a choice between the countries available
29/10/2016 10:33
Manchester United
4779
It provides him the opportunity to make a choice between the countries available
29/10/2016
points
I was surprised at the list of players who had won champions league
29/10/2016 10:32
Manchester United
4779
I was surprised at the list of players who had won champions league
28/10/2016
points
I was not able to see the goals. I think it is one of the best goals of the season.
28/10/2016 21:19
Manchester United
4779
I was not able to see the goals. I think it is one of the best goals of the season.
28/10/2016
points
Well, this is a topic for big discussion:-) Every player should have right to play for the country he was born in. But when sport federation decides to choose some player only for its own interest that's not fair. Some national teams don't even fully represent skills of their youth teams or the effort they make to create professional player. So, is it enough to give someone a citizenship or you need to work hard with a player? Also, it became popular to give players bonuses if they make success with national team. Shouldn't it be honour for everyone to represent its own country? I believe it should. National team should not be some random team, but the team with all the characteristics of that country and culture, a faithful representation of hard work with youth categories and generally speaking, talent of one nation for some sports..
28/10/2016 18:30
Arsenal
3557
Well, this is a topic for big discussion:-) Every player should have right to play for the country he was born in. But when sport federation decides to choose some player only for its own interest that's not fair. Some national teams don't even fully represent skills of their youth teams or the effort they make to create professional player. So, is it enough to give someone a citizenship or you need to work hard with a player? Also, it became popular to give players bonuses if they make success with national team. Shouldn't it be honour for everyone to represent its own country? I believe it should. National team should not be some random team, but the team with all the characteristics of that country and culture, a faithful representation of hard work with youth categories and generally speaking, talent of one nation for some sports..
28/10/2016
points
Hi Aragorn1986
You raise some very interesting points. It would be great to hear what other football fans think about what you have said.
Rich - The Prermier Skills English Team
28/10/2016 21:59
Liverpool
594
Hi Aragorn1986
You raise some very interesting points. It would be great to hear what other football fans think about what you have said.
Rich - The Prermier Skills English Team
29/10/2016
points
Hi Rich! Interesting topic indeed. I'd like to hear what other fans think too.
29/10/2016 21:36
Arsenal
3557
Hi Rich! Interesting topic indeed. I'd like to hear what other fans think too.
28/10/2016
points
I've seen the goals. It was brilliant. I knew he won the CL with Bayern but I have to admit I didn't know Ryan Bertrand made it with Chelsea.
28/10/2016 18:01
Arsenal
3557
I've seen the goals. It was brilliant. I knew he won the CL with Bayern but I have to admit I didn't know Ryan Bertrand made it with Chelsea.
27/10/2016
points
There was a Brazilian, Edmar, both a good footballer and a personality, who changed his citizenship after he had married a Ukranian girl. He was later sometimes called to the national team. I think players should be able to change the country that they play for because we all are supposed to live free.
27/10/2016 20:30
Liverpool
6577
There was a Brazilian, Edmar, both a good footballer and a personality, who changed his citizenship after he had married a Ukranian girl. He was later sometimes called to the national team. I think players should be able to change the country that they play for because we all are supposed to live free.
27/10/2016
points
I didn't know that Shaqiri had won the Champions League. I'm not surprised by any of the other players in the list.
27/10/2016 20:22
Liverpool
6577
I didn't know that Shaqiri had won the Champions League. I'm not surprised by any of the other players in the list.
15/11/2016
points
He had won the Champions League in 2013 with Bayern Munich
15/11/2016 17:18
Manchester United
17
He had won the Champions League in 2013 with Bayern Munich