Granit Xhaka accused of ‘trying to be the hero’ against England as Switzerland captain ‘joins the Neymar list’

GRANIT XHAKA has received criticism from fans who believe he was waiting to take Switzerland’s fifth penalty in their shoot-out loss to England.

The Bayer Leverkusen captain, 31, did not take any of the Swiss’ four spot kicks as they lost 5-3 to Gareth Southgate’s men on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

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Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji was the only player to miss as Jordan Pickford‘s save proved decisive.

It is not known whether Switzerland captain Xhaka was set to take next for his country as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s winner put the game to bed before he could step up.

But fans feel he was attempting an act carried out by the likes of Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past by going fifth in a bid to score the winning penalty.

One social media user said: “Xhaka trying to be the hero by taking the 5th penalty .”

While another added: “Xhaka did 5th penalty taker gimmick nooooooooooooooooooooooo.”

A third replied: “Xhaka and Neymar  shying from a pen shootout.”

And a fourth responded: “Granit Xhaka still waiting to kick. Joins Neymar on that list.”

Xhaka has taken four penalties in normal time in his career, scoring three and missing one.

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He did not take a spot kick in Switzerland’s shoot-out win over France at Euro 2020, although his side did score all five.

He was then suspended for their quarter-final defeat to Spain which also went to penalties.

Ex-Arsenal man Xhaka did take one against England in the 2019 Nations League, scoring as the Swiss lost 6-5 in the third-place play-off.