SERBIA star Aleksa Terzic went from ecstasy to injury after a failed celebration left him in a heap on the floor.
Terzic, 25, scored a last gasp equaliser for Serbia as the Eagles snatched a late point off rival nation Switzerland in the Nations League on Saturday.
The Serbs were trailing 1-0 heading into the dying embers of the game after Zeki Amdouni had put Switzerland ahead in the 78th minute.
But a misplaced late corner for the Swiss allowed visitors Serbia to launch a quick counter-attack that was finished off by Terzic.
The versatile RB Salzburg wide-man neatly curled his effort past Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to pull the scores level.
Naturally, he wanted to soak in the moment and celebrate in front of the away fans, but his overexcitement left him laying on the floor seemingly in pain.
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Terzic had tried to mimic Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous “SIUUU” celebration, but mistimed his leap into the air and crashed down to the floor in an uncomfortable position.
The former Fiorentina man immediately took a tumble to the turf and lay by the corner flag as his teammates smothered him in the late celebrations.
Fortunately, Terzic was able to get back to his feet after the mishap, seemingly shaking any concern over a serious injury from the celebration.
However, the late goal did spell the end of his evening as Serbia boss Dragan Stojkovic immediately replaced him with Sasa Zdjelar.
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The defensive switch helped Serbia see out the remainder of the match and earn their second point of the Nations League campaign.
The point meant that the Serbs remain above Switzerland in League A, Group 4 – something that will be huge to the fans given the deep-rooted rivalry between the two nations.
Serbia and Switzerland have some bad blood between them regarding the ethnic heritage of some of Swiss players.
Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri have previously celebrated using the Albanian Eagle – the nationalist symbol of their ethnic heritage.
Shaqiri was born in Kosovo (a former Serbian province which declared independence in 2008).
Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence and relations remain tense with many families choosing to move to other European counties including Switzerland.
The rivalry often throws up controversy with Xhaka involved in a few feisty moments down the years, including “rattling” the Serbia bench by grabbing his NUTS during the 2022 World Cup.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
