We are already in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar, one of the most anticipated events of the year. Yesterday afternoon the last two matches of the group stage were played, on the one hand Brazil-Cameroon, an unimportant challenge in terms of group, and on the other a decisive challenge, the match between Serbia and Switzerland.
A challenge that also fully touches tennis and in which some of the greatest tennis world champions of recent years participate. A few minutes before the match, the Serbian champion Novak Djokovic, winner of 21 Grand Slam titles, challenged in an Instagram Stories two of his biggest rivals in his extraordinary career, the Swiss tennis couple Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic and Federer have put up great numbers together and have won an impressive 41 Grand Slam titles, Wawrinka has only won three but has taken several honors throughout his career, most notably against Novak Djokovic.
Wawrinka retweeted Nole’s story responding that he was up for the challenge, a little back and forth that he took to social media and recalled some of his past challenges. Serbia-Switzerland lived up to expectations and was one of the most beautiful matches of the World Cup.
A lot of agonism, fight and a challenge that took many turns. The Serbian team initially took the lead and seemed favorites for the final victory, but in the end things took a different turn. After Shaqiri’s controversial early lead, Serbia turned the game around with goals from Mitrovic and Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, his first goal in the competition.
The first half ended 2-2, and a late goal from Cameroonian-born Swiss Embolo leveled things up. Switzerland technically had a chance to qualify even with a draw, but Atalanta’s Freuler’s goal early in the second half sealed the game.
Switzerland will now face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the round of 16, and Serbia will go home, even earlier than planned.
Djokovic was disappointed
Novak Djokovic recently opened up about the criticism he is often subjected to from the tennis media.
“I know that people sometimes think I’m fake, that I do certain things because I want to be loved. It’s not like that, I’m just trying to be genuine. It’s something we’re losing,” Djokovic said. “It is not possible to please everyone but by now the politically correct forces us to give up expressing our ideas with respect, without hatred, but with freedom.
Freedom of speech for me today is just an illusion. I had an extraordinary example of this this year, with what happened to me around the vaccine issue,” Djokovic said. “I expressed myself for the freedom to be able to dispose of one’s body, and immediately I was accused of being a no-vax, which I am not. If you don’t belong to a certain way of thinking, you quickly become the bad guy. That’s no good.”
