Manuel Akanji adds insult to injury by waving farewell to defeated Serbia and ‘shouting bye’

After an incident-packed and feisty 3-2 win, Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji had the last laugh by cheekily waving Serbia goodbye as his side progressed to the second round at their rivals’ expense. 

With talk of political tension between the two sides dominating the build-up to this one, the rivalry once again spilled onto the pitch late on in Friday’s group stage meeting, after Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka was pushed by Nikola Milenkovic in the chest, which resulted in an on-field melee that required several minutes to dissipate.

Former Liverpool and Stoke City star Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring and chose not to celebrate with an eagle-handed gesture again – an act that got him fined by FIFA in 2018 – instead holding a finger to his lips to silence the opposing fans whistling and booing him. 

Things quickly turned, however, with Serbia looking like they could pip Switzerland out of the group at one point. Fulham marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic – another goalscorer in this clash four years ago – scored a wonderful glancing header into the far corner of Kobel’s net after an excellent cross from Dusan Tadic and just 10 minutes later, Dusan Vlahovic capitalised on a defensive error from the Swiss to put his side 2-1 up. The Juventus starlet put a finger to his lips in celebration, too. 

The Serbian glory didn’t last long, though – and the Swiss managed to draw level before half-time via a Breel Embolo tap-in before Nottingham Forest’s Remo Freuler capped off a breathtaking team move to make it 3-2. 

While the defeat is already a blow, Manuel Akanji rub some extra salt into their wound by waving farewell to defeated Serbia.

The Manchester City centre-back was filmed with his arm above the crowd that had gathered to celebrate Serbia’s progression to the knockouts – waving it in the direction of the Serbian side at the final whistle.

The defender could also be heard shouting ‘bye’ to the Serbian side, according to reports, to add insult to injury for their European rivals.