Lead role plays big part in remarkable Shaqiri comeback...

TOP TALENT: Former Stoke player Xherdan Shaqiri has revived Basel.

- Peter Smith

XHERDAN Shaqiri was well paid but hardly playing this time last year, with critics writing off the former Stoke City forward as unfit and overweight.

Then aged 32, he had been at Chicago Fire for two years and seemed to be coasting towards retirement. He crossed the Atlantic for the European Championships and scored a wonder goal for Switzerland against Scotland but his only other involvement in the tournament was an 11-minute run out in extra-time of a quarter-final against England.

He gave what the Swiss press called “a typically entertaining press conference” where he spoke about his frustration in MLS and his desire to return to Europe. He would soon bow out from international football.

The American soccer media was unsympathetic. Extra Time Talk wrote: “The only explanation seems to be a pure lack of effort. Shaqiri has shown glimpses of commitment to the Fire, but for the most part, he is sluggish on the pitch and apathetic in press conferences. Chicago is also objectively a poor team and there’s nothing about playing for this club that is motivating its captain to do well.”

There was speculation about where in Europe might be tempting to Shaqiri but, given his form and age and high cost, no one was particularly expecting the fairy tale that has since transpired. Not least because Basel, his boyhood club, had spent the previous season fighting against relegation.