Xherdan Shaqiri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 7/2014
Personal information
Full name:
Xherdan Shaqiri
Date of birth:
10 October 1991
Place of birth:
Gnjilane, SFR Yugoslavia
Height:
1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Playing position:
Winger
Club information
Current team:
Bayern Munich
Number:
11
Youth career
SV Augst:
1999-2001
FC Basel:
2001-2007
Senior career*
FC Basel U21:
2007-2009
19x apps / 8x goals
FC Basel:
2009-2012
92x apps / 18x goals
Bayern Munich:
2012-
43x apps / 10x goals
National team
Switzerland U17:
2007-2008
10x apps / 0x goals
Switzerland U18:
2008-2009
5x apps / 0x goals
Switzerland U19:
2009
5x apps / 3x goals
Switzerland U21:
2009-2011
7x apps / 1x goals
Switzerland:
2010
32x apps / 12x goals
* (appearances, national team caps and goals correct as of 25 June 2014)
Xherdan Shaqiri, born 10 October 1991, is a Swiss footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga as well as the Swiss national team.
Since his breakthrough into Basel's first team, Shaqiri has drawn widespread praise for his speed, both on and off the ball.
FIFA's official website describes Shaqiri as "unpredictable on the ball, adept with both feet, clinical in front of goal and possessing excellent vision".
He is nicknamed "the Alpine Messi" and "the magic dwarf".
Early life
Shaqiri was born in Gnjilane, Yugoslavia to Albanian Kosovar parents.
He emigrated to Switzerland in 1992 with his parents and three siblings.
He has dual nationality: Swiss and Albanian.
He acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalisation.
Club career
FC Basel
Shaqiri played for SV Augst's and FC Basel's youth teams. While on Basel's youth team, he played in the Under-15 Nike Cup 2007 and was named the best player of the tournament, and, despite having several other clubs attempting to sign him, he decided to stay with Basel.
He then played for their reserve team from 2007 to 2009 in the Swiss 1. Liga and just two years later, Shaqiri signed his first professional contract with Basel on 2 January 2009.
The new contract was set to keep him at St. Jakob-Park until June 2014.
Shaqiri made his Basel debut as a substitute on 12 July 2009 in Basel's 2009–10 season opening game against FC St. Gallen at the AFG Arena.
On 9 November, he scored his first goal for Basel in a 4:1 win over Neuchâtel Xamax at home.
At the end of the 2009-10 season, Shaqiri won the national Double with Basel and a year later won the League Championship title again.
On 7 December 2011, Shaqiri provided two assists in the match against Manchester United. The match ended in an upset with Basel winning 2:1.
At the end of the 2011-12 season, for the second time in his Basel stint, he won the Double, the League Championship title and the Swiss Cup with Basel.
Bayern Munich
On 9 February 2012, Basel announced that Shaqiri had accepted a transfer to Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga for the 2012-13 season.
The transfer fee was a reported €11.6 million, with Shaqiri signing a four-year contract with the German giants until 30 June 2016, making around €2 million per season.
On 10 July 2012, Shaqiri made his debut in a friendly match against German side SpVgg Unterhaching which Bayern won 1:0 by a goal of teammate David Alaba.
His first official appearance for the club came on 20 August in a DFB-Pokal match against SSV Jahn Regensburg.
Shaqiri came on as a half-time substitute and scored Bayern's second goal as well as providing assists for Mario Mandžukić and Claudio Pizarro as Bayern won 4:0.
He helped Bayern secure top spot in their Champions League group by winning the Man of the Match award in Bayern's 4:1 defeat of BATE Borisov on 5 December; Shaqiri scored a goal and provided an assist for the hosts, avenging their matchday two loss in Minsk.
He did not score his first Bundesliga goal until the final league match of 2012, rescuing a 1:1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach, leaving Bayern in first at the winter break.
In April, Shaqiri also scored in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg with a long-range effort.
Although he didn't play in the final, Shaqiri won the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League title with Bayern in late May, as well as the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal title making him one of the Bayern Munich players to have won the treble.
Shaqiri made his debut for the Switzerland under-21 side on 11 November 2009 in a 3:1 win against the Turkey under-21s in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier.
He scored his first goal on 11 June 2011 in the 2011 Under-21 Championship opening game against the Denmark under-21 side.
In 2010, Shaqiri was promoted to the senior team, making his debut on 3 March 2010 in a 1:3 friendly loss against Uruguay. He was included in the 2010 World Cup squad, after receiving a surprise call-up from manager Ottmar Hitzfeld.
On 7 September 2010, Shaqiri scored his first goal, a long range left footed shot, in a 1:3 loss against England in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
In another Euro 2012 qualifier, on 6 September 2011, he netted a hat-trick, as Switzerland came from behind to defeat Bulgaria by a score of 3:1.
Switzerland also tried to select him to participate in the 2012 Olympic Football tournament, but he opted to stay at his new club for pre-season training.
In June 2014, Shaqiri was named in Switzerland's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the team's opening match, Shaqiri was named man of the match by FIFA as the Nati defeated Ecuador.
He earned the same title a mere ten days later in the Swiss team's third and final Group match, scoring a hat-trick against Honduras to ensure Switzerland a spot in the Round of 16, where they lost to Argentina.