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Xherdan Shaqiri scored a spectacular hat-trick against Honduras to help Switzerland advance to the second round in the FIFA World Cup 2014. Shaqiri’s hat-trick was also the 50th in the World Cup history, and only second in this year’s tournament. His stunning performance has been praised all over the social media. According to Topsy.com, a social analytics website , Shaqiri’s name was mentioned over 125,000 today.

Shaqiri’s stunning performances for Switzerland during the qualifying rounds and today in the World Cup have deservedly earned him the epithet of a hero for the country he represents. In Kosovo, his birthplace, Shaqiri is also considered a hero, an ambassador, and a role model.

The President of Kosovo has honored him with the title of the Honorary Ambassador of Kosovo. Shaqiri has the Kosovo, Albanian, and the Swiss flag embedded on his shoe. He also carried the Swiss and Kosovo flags while celebrating the Champions League 2012/2013 title he won with FC Bayern.

Valon Behrami, Admir Mehmedi, Granit Xhaka and Blerim Xhemaili are four other Albanians from Kosovo and Macedonia featuring for Switzerland. Their success with the Switzerland team has lead many in Kosovo and Albania to support Switzerland in the World Cup.

Below, there are some Tweets from or about Kosovo sparked by Shaqiri’s superb performance tonight.  Tweets come from senior Kosovo politicians, including the country’s President and Foreign Minister.
Shaqiri thanking his fans in three languages, including Albanian.

 

Kosovo President saying “Thank you for granting such great memories to Kosovo.

BBC: Switzerland’s unlikely World Cup heroes

Source : BBC.com

Source : BBC.com

The Guardian: Xherdan Shaqiri takes on Argentina for Switzerland (and Kosovo)

Source: theguardian.com

Source: theguardian.com