Stephan Lichtsteiner (212 Viewers)
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http://football-italia.net/64540/teammates-defend-lichtsteiner
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Teammates defend Lichtsteiner
By Football Italia staff
Stephan Lichtsteiner has been defended by his Switzerland teammates after controversial statements.
The Juventus full-back gave an interview in which he said the Swiss team needed 'role models’ like Tranquillo Barnetta, rather than players of an immigrant background.
While the former Lazio man made it clear he was not trying to pass judgement on his 'foreign’ teammates, he implied there were 'too many’ of them in the national team.
“There’s no problem in the Swiss squad,” Valon Behrami, who is of Kosovan origin, said when asked about the comments, as reported by L’Equipe.
“We are a group, and I can assure you that group is very strong. Switzerland is a country which gives a chance to people of an immigrant background.
“We need to stop talking about players been 'Swiss-Swiss’ or 'Kosovan-Swiss’, it gets us nowhere. We are Swiss, and we play for Switzerland.”
Rennes midfielder Gelson Fernandes also played down the furore.
“We cannot hide that the squad consists of different nationalities, different cultures.
“A few months before the World Cup it was said that this multi-cultural Switzerland was a strength, and I think it is.”
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Teammates defend Lichtsteiner
By Football Italia staff
Stephan Lichtsteiner has been defended by his Switzerland teammates after controversial statements.
The Juventus full-back gave an interview in which he said the Swiss team needed 'role models’ like Tranquillo Barnetta, rather than players of an immigrant background.
While the former Lazio man made it clear he was not trying to pass judgement on his 'foreign’ teammates, he implied there were 'too many’ of them in the national team.
“There’s no problem in the Swiss squad,” Valon Behrami, who is of Kosovan origin, said when asked about the comments, as reported by L’Equipe.
“We are a group, and I can assure you that group is very strong. Switzerland is a country which gives a chance to people of an immigrant background.
“We need to stop talking about players been 'Swiss-Swiss’ or 'Kosovan-Swiss’, it gets us nowhere. We are Swiss, and we play for Switzerland.”
Rennes midfielder Gelson Fernandes also played down the furore.
“We cannot hide that the squad consists of different nationalities, different cultures.
“A few months before the World Cup it was said that this multi-cultural Switzerland was a strength, and I think it is.”
Tranquillo Barnetta. A very Swiss name 
Switzerland is divided into 3 parts; and while Germanic culture and language are predominant there's also Italian and French very much present in the other parts of the country, as it is positioned between aforementioned, etc... What he's referring to is another matter, folks that have no connection with either, but have migrated in recent times and he questions their loyalty and sense of national identity.
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That's accurate.
Yeah, I was trying to soften my wording cause I don't want to be called a racist by Trequartista or Matt. And picking out a man of italian descent as an exemple gave me the giggles at first, but DP84 quickly went over it. Europe as whole is like that, there will always be these racial tensions until the hard work and contributions of immigrants (specially the ones of color, indians, africans, south east asians) are fully acknowledge and respected. Until then, we got no choice but to accept it or work on our soil.
The fact that they are calling themselves foreigners has eluded you. Its more complicated in Europe cuz of the history and there are more countries in a small space i can write a 2000 page book on this. Its all bullshit but what can you do. Believe me they are calling themselves swiss in the interview but they are not in their minds they tend to stick to their roots. In the USA you also call Mexicans for example (there are more nationalities) foreigners and you don't want them there. The fact that all of USA citizens are foreigners except Indians is funny to me.
