Game of cojones: Serbia suffer and give Granit Xhaka the last word

Switzerland’s captain offered a snapshot of the bad blood between Albania, Kosovo and Serbia with one crude gesture

FIERY: Serbia's Nikola Milenkovic, left, pushes Switzerland's Granit Xhaka. Pic: AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan

Maybe Fifa does have a sense of humour after all. Certainly there was a note of dark comedy in the news, relayed breathlessly over the PA on the final whistle, that the player of the match in this fraught Group E decider was Granit Xhaka.

Not that Xhaka didn’t deserve it. He played well in deep midfield on a steamy night at Stadium 974. He controlled the tempo at times. More to the point Xhaka also controlled the noises off, directing the dark energy that must always accompany this fixture with the poise of a veteran conductor. Albeit, a veteran conductor with one hand down his shorts.