Xherdan Shaqiri 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.
International career
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.
International goals Scores and results list Switzerland's goal
tally first Career statistics
Club As of 7 June 2014
Honours Club
Basel Swiss Cup Winner at U-18 level: 2007–08
Swiss Super League: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
Swiss Cup: 2009–10, 2012 Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 2012–13, 2013–14 DFB-Pokal: 2012–13, 2013–14
DFL-Supercup: 2012 UEFA Champions League: 2012–13
UEFA Super Cup: 2013 FIFA Club World Cup: 2013
Individual awards Credit Suisse Player of the Year: 2011, 2012
Swiss Golden Player Award "SFAP Golden Player": 2012
Swiss Golden Player Award "Best Young Player": 2012
Personal life Shaqiri is a Muslim who celebrates Christmas
and can be seen praying during games.
References
External links Official website
Xherdan Shaqiri profile at Soccerway