Xhaka – Switzerland’s World Cup rock born to be skipper

PARIS: Switzerland’s World Cup captain Granit Xhaka says leadership is a role he learnt aged four when he was handed the house keys as his Albanian parents worked overtime to make ends meet in their adopted country.

The 33-year-old midfielder has the opportunity to prove that that tough experience paid off by leading the Swiss into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954 if they beat Colombia on Tuesday.

Those early years, though, when he and his brother Taulant, who is a year older, were left to their own devices have left their mark on a player who has at times let his emotions get the better of him on the pitch.

“I think I learnt about leadership already when I was four years old,” he told Stan Sport Football earlier this year.

“My parents were working during the day, extra work just to get us what we wanted and it is why we are where we are today.

“I was four and I was given the keys to the house, so already I had responsibility,” he added.

Xhaka, who like Taulant was born in Switzerland, said he and his brother would spend 18 hours alone together at the house.

“My two older daughters are six and four and I cannot see my kids staying alone for 18 hours today,” he said.

“But we had this, my brother and I. My mother (Elmaze) would start work at four in the morning, prepare the lunch before she left, come back at three and make dinner before going to a second job.

“My dad (Ragip) was the same,” he added, tearily.

‘There were beatings’

Xhaka’s parents met and married in Kosovo, at the time an autonomous province in Yugoslavia and later Serbia with a predominantly ethnic Albanian population.

Ragip fell foul of the regime of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and, aged 22 was handed a six-year prison sentence for taking part in an anti-government demonstration.

“Nobody knew if he was still alive or not,” Xhaka told The Times in May.

“So even with this ten minutes (of daily exercise), sometimes he had months without speaking with his family members.

His father told his sons of the beatings he suffered in prison. “He starts to tell you a little bit, but then he feels like he needs to stop,” Xhaka said.

His father emerged from this hellish existence after three years and the family packed up their belongings and fled to Switzerland by bus. “My mom (was) legal, my dad not legal,” he recalls.

Xhaka and Taulant rewarded their parents for their courage and sacrifices by becoming successful footballers.

Both played for Swiss club Basel, but while Xhaka opted to represent Switzerland – he has 150 caps to his name – Taulant chose Albania.

Xhaka has shown the steeliness he gained from his childhood in rebounding when times have been tough.

The lowest, perhaps, was when he was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after blowing a gasket when he was substituted by then-manager Unai Emery in October 2019.

Xhaka had a love-hate relationship with Arsenal fans and when they cheered his being taken off, he told them where to go in colourful terms.

“The darkness (after being substituted) was only when I was alone, but it was a nice darkness because I learnt a lot from it,” he told The Times.

He stayed and re-established himself in the Arsenal set-up when Mikel Arteta took over and won a second FA Cup before heading to Germany.

There he played a pivotal role in Bayer Leverkusen’s league and cup double in 2024, going unbeaten through the domestic season.

A successful return to England with Premier League surprise package Sunderland and now the possibility of a first World Cup quarter-final for Switzerland in over 70 years – life surely could not be sweeter.

However, he keeps his feet firmly on the ground.

“We never forget where we come from.”