It was a normal challenge - Switzerland equaliser fine by Shaqiri

Switzerland's equaliser against Brazil was not a foul according to Xherdan Shaqiri, responding to complaints from their opponents.

Published : Jun 18, 2018 20:50 IST

Brazil is incorrect with its assessment that Switzerland's equaliser in its World Cup Group E clash should not have stood, according to Xherdan Shaqiri.

Steven Zuber rose above Miranda to head home five minutes into the second half in Rostov-on-Don, cancelling out Philippe Coutinho's first-half strike, though Brazil wanted a free-kick awarded in its favour.

VAR was not consulted by referee Cesar Ramos following the incident, another reason for the Selecao's frustration, but Shaqiri believes there was nothing wrong with the header from his team-mate.

"I think it's not the same as a foul. In every game you have some little touches and this is football. I don't think he pushed the player, it's a normal challenge at a corner for me," he told reporters.

Switzerland, which was eliminated at the last-16 stage by Argentina in Brazil four years ago, tackles Serbia on Friday before taking on Costa Rica in its final Group E outing.

Shaqiri believes Vladimir Petkovic's side is capable of reaching the latter stages of the tournament.

"Our goal is to get to the next round and to do our best. We know there is another two difficult games but we don't fear anybody," the Stoke City winger added.

"We have the quality to win games and we go into every game to try to win. We know there are two different games coming up and we will try to win."

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