Xherdan Shaqiri

He is like Odysseus returning home from his long voyage. Now that he is back in his home city of Basel, from Chicago, where he captained Fire FC, footballer Xherdan Shaqiri is once more planting his studs on home turf. The player has rejoined FC Basel, having first put on the team’s shirt in 2001, at the age of ten. This comeback comes in the wake of his retirement from the Swiss national team in July 2024. “He won the hearts of the Swiss and gave us some unforgettable moments, thanks to the magic of his touch and his goals,” in the words of Swiss football boss, Dominique Blanc. The footballer, born into a working-class family in Kosovo just before the disintegration of Yugoslavia, has received a number of nicknames from his fans over the years: XS, the Little Prince, Shaq... During the most recent European championship, the player, aged 33, gave the Swiss a performance to remember. Xherdan Shaqiri scored a blistering goal against Scotland. The player, who stands 1.70 m tall, ended his last competition in Swiss national colours by slamming the ball into the back of the net past English goalie Jordan Pickford, during a penalty shoot-out, in a match that Switzerland nonetheless ultimately lost. In Switzerland, football fans are now flocking to watch all of FC Basel’s matches. One such match was the September encounter with Stade Nyonnais, a team recently promoted to the Challenge League, who held their own against the great FC Basel. XS’s presence turned this Swiss Cup match into something of a national event attracting 4,000 spectators. It was the man himself, in the 123rd minute, who scored the winner for FC Basel!