How Xherdan Shaqiri enchants Basel and Swiss football

Why do you need a pope when you have Shaqiri? "Habemus Xherdan" was written on a giant sheet in Basel's St. Jakob-Park last Sunday, accompanied by white smoke from the stands. Shaqiri laughed briefly when asked about it after the 3-2 win against Lausanne. He said he hadn't even seen it; an FCB employee had just shown him the photo. He was "happy" to have "made the FCB fans happy" with the team, he said, beaming.

FCB faces Biel in the cup final, and in the league, it would be a real nightmare for FCB to throw away their six-point lead. After seven years of biblical drought, Basel is in a state of red-and-blue bliss. Thanks to him, the fairytale prince, Xherdan Shaqiri, bigger than the Pope.

Of course, that's an exaggeration, but exaggeration is to football like the Vatican is to Rome. Shaqiri is currently writing a story in Basel that seems as heavenly as a fairytale that turns into reality. Venit, vidit, vicit, they would say in Rome. He came, saw, conquered. Never before has a single player dominated the league as much as Shaqiri has in the months since he returned home to his boyhood club in August. Not only is the 33-year-old making his team a league better, but Shaqiri is also bringing glamour and glory to the rather staid Swiss football scene far beyond Basel.

At St. Jakob-Park, but also in Bern, Zurich, Yverdon, and Winterthur, all eyes are on Shaqiri. When he takes a run-up for a corner or free kick, the atmosphere immediately becomes electric, and the opponents become nervous, as the entire stadium wonders what magical trick Shaqiri's left foot will unleash. Even when he's far away from the ball on the edge of the pitch or somewhere in front of his own goal, Shaqiri always radiates the feeling that he's up to something, a little mischief or a great pass into open space.

Meanwhile, Shaqiri has long led the scoring points list, currently with 34 in the league and cup. These numbers are impressive, but they don't reflect the fact that his goals and passes are almost always decisive.

And above all, they show none of the magic that Shaqiri used to score the 2-0 against FC Zurich at the Letzigrund: a short dribble, a powerful shot from a tight angle that hits the underside of the crossbar, post, goal. Fortunately, Instagram and YouTube provide proof that there's only one Swiss player who consistently scores goals like these: Xherdan Shaqiri.

He was already world-famous for his magic tricks before he returned to FCB. He scored a hat trick for the Swiss national team at the World Cup in Brazil, the famous scissor-kick against Poland at the 2016 European Championship, and the winning goal against Serbia at the World Cup in Russia. And so on. Before retiring from the national team last summer, he scored a goal in the 1-1 draw against Scotland at the European Championship that goalkeeper Yann Sommer could only think of: "Typical Shaq" – a shot from 25 meters directly under the crossbar.

Because of these snapshots, Shaqiri is as well-known in Switzerland as Christoph Blocher or Roger Federer, at least. Now he's also gifting FCB with his Shaqiri moments. In Basel, a side to the special moments has also emerged for which Shaqiri hasn't been particularly known over the years: his ability as a leader.

Shaqiri has repeatedly claimed the role of team leader, but he never fully embraced it: In the national team, it was Granit Xhaka or, previously, Stephan Lichtsteiner who led the team. Shaqiri was always responsible for the special moments, "the cherry on the cake," as the NZZ once wrote.

The same applies to his role at major clubs like Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Liverpool. Shaqiri was there and contributed his artistic touch as a cute genius, but others like Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben in Munich, or Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino in Liverpool, carried the teams to great success. What's new is that Shaqiri is now carrying the entire team along and through the entire season.

This was not foreseeable at the beginning, even though the quality and competition in the FCB squad are not comparable to world-class clubs such as Bayern or Liverpool and the demands in Switzerland are much lower in every respect than in the Bundesliga or the Premier League.

Nevertheless, it's striking that for the first time in his long career, Shaqiri hasn't missed a single season due to injury. This may have something to do with luck, as Shaqiri has sensitive muscles, especially in his thick calf area. Furthermore, he's always had a reputation for not always doing everything he can to maintain his fitness when he's been sidelined and has lost his sense of fun.

Now, in Basel, he has clearly done everything he can to be physically ready, even at the age of 33. His experience and the FCB medical department may have played a part in that. Above all, however, Shaqiri seems to have sensed from day one that there could only be one option for the Rubik's Cube Shaq Attack in Basel: the center of attention. The prerequisite for that is being fit. He worked hard for that. He set the bar high for himself right from the very first day.

He said at his presentation that he wanted to "win titles again in the next three years." "Typical Shaqiri," one was tempted to think, recalling an FC Basel that had been bottom of the table ten months earlier and was sinking into chaos. Now, he and his FCB are on the verge of achieving their goal in their first year. Coach Fabio Celestini has rebuilt the team and focused it on Shaqiri, and the other players quickly realized how they needed to align themselves with the captain to achieve success.

This has exceeded all expectations; no one is talking about record-breaking player Fabian Frei, who was dumped by Winterthur, or about the sidelined Taulant Xhaka. FCB is no longer David Degen's faceless trading company for transfer shares instead of players, and no one is upset about the new main sponsor. As FC Shaqiri, FC Basel is once again the club for which "tout Basel" flocks to the Joggeli and gives love to the returning Xherdan.

Because it's not titles and trophies that drove Shaqiri to return home to Basel, but love. When he receives love, he's happy; when he's happy, he plays well. Because it's so simple and yet happens at such a high spectacle level, it's a great gift for Basel and Swiss football to see Xherdan Shaqiri give and receive love.

It's very similar to what the Pope does at Easter and Christmas, when he blesses the people of Rome in St. Peter's Square. In Basel, the place of blessing is called Barfüsserplatz, and soon Shaqiri will be standing on the Champions League balcony there. Who knows, maybe Shaqiri will see with his own eyes a giant sheet with the inscription: "Habemus scyphum." What does that mean? We have the trophy.

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »