GRANIT XHAKA has received criticism from fans after Switzerland’s penalty shootout loss to England.
The Bayer Leverkusen captain, 31, did not take any of the Swiss’ four spot kicks as they lost 5-3 to Gareth Southgate’s men on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji was the only player to miss as Jordan Pickford’s save proved decisive.
It is not known whether Switzerland captain Xhaka was set to take the fifth penalty for his country as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s winner put the game to bed before he could step up.
But some fans believe the ex-Arsenal ace made a decision reminiscent of that taken by the likes of Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have both been left red-faced in the past by opting to take a fifth penalty that never happened.
At Euro 2012, Cristiano Ronaldo was scheduled to take the fifth kick against Spain, but Portugal lost the semi-final penalty shootout before he was able to step up.
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And the same thing happened at the 2017 Confederations Cup, when the Portuguese were beaten 3-0 on penalties by Chile.
Then at World Cup 2022, Neymar was accused of “doing a Cristiano Ronaldo” as Brazil lost 4-2 on penalties to Croatia in a shootout that saw the Selecao beaten before a fifth spot kick could be taken.
Following Switzerland’s defeat, one social media user posted: “Xhaka trying to be the hero by taking the 5th penalty”
While another added: “Xhaka did 5th penalty taker gimmick nooooooooooooooooooooooo.”
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Another fan wrote: “Xhaka and Neymar [handshake emoji] shying from a penalty shootout”
And a fourth responded: “Granit Xhaka still waiting to kick. Joins Neymar on that list.”
However, Xhaka has never been a regular penalty taker for any of his clubs.
The Swiss captain has taken four penalties in normal time in his career, scoring three and missing one.
He did not take a spot kick in Switzerland’s shootout win over France at Euro 2020, although his side did score all five.
He was then suspended for their quarter-final defeat to Spain which also went to penalties.
Xhaka did, however, take one against England in the 2019 Nations League, scoring the second Swiss penalty as they lost the shootout 6-5 in the third-place play-off.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
