When a footballer’s boots are among the pre-match talking points it should normally be a sign that subplots are scarce: the opposite will be true when Xherdan Shaqiri walks out in Kaliningrad. The Switzerland forward will be sporting footwear that, on his right heel, displays the stitched flag of Kosovo. He is far from the only member of the team to profess that allegiance and it has raised the temperature of a fixture that has looked pivotal to both sides’ World Cup hopes ever since the draw was made.
“If he loves Kosovo so much and decides to flaunt the flag, why did he refuse a chance to play for their team?” asked Aleksandar Mitrovic when Shaqiri’s choice of boot – for balance, a Swiss flag is displayed on his left shoe – was raised last week.
