In the early morning of July 7th, Switzerland were eliminated from the European Championship quarter-finals after losing to England on penalties. After the match, Swiss captain Granit Xhaka revealed a secret – he had been playing with an injury and led the team to the very last moment.
In an interview with Swiss television, Xhaka confessed: “Now I can tell you, I was actually diagnosed with a torn adductor muscle on Monday.”
The midfielder, who currently plays for German club Bayer Leverkusen, continued: “Despite that, I decided to play for the team, I chose to endure the pain and stay on the pitch.”
He further explained that the injury severely limited his performance: “During the match, I found it difficult to make long passes, and my shots also lacked their usual accuracy. However, apart from those aspects, my performance was decent.”
Xhaka exemplified the spirit of perseverance with his actions: “I challenged my limits again today, giving my all for the national honour.”
Although Switzerland drew 1-1 with England in regulation time, they were cruelly defeated 3-5 in a penalty shootout, failing to advance. Xhaka did not participate in the penalty shootout, but he expressed his deep feelings about the entire process: “Right now, I can’t find the right words to describe how I feel. But I believe we shouldn’t blame the team or the coaching staff in the slightest. Regardless of whether the referee’s decisions were fair or not, it no longer matters. What’s important is that we all gave our best, and we should be proud of ourselves. Unfortunately, we were just a little bit unlucky in the penalty shootout.”
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