Granit Xhaka breaks silence on claims that he appeared to infuriate Serbia bench by grabbing his crotch during FIFA World Cup game

Granit Xhaka rubbished claims that he wanted to provoke Serbia by grabbing his crotch during Switzerland's FIFA World Cup clash.

The two European nations were involved in a captivating clash in Group H. Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring for the Swiss team in the 20th minute of the game.

Aleksandar Mitrovic put his country level shortly afterward, in the 26th minute. Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic earned Serbia the lead in the 35th minute of the game.

Breel Embolo leveled the scoring for the Swiss side late in the first half (44th minute) before Remo Freuler scored the eventual winner of the contest in the 48th minute.

It was a nail-biting back-and-forth affair. Xhaka was involved in a notable instance during the second half of the game. He seemingly made a gesture to the Serbian bench by grabbing his crotch.

When quizzed later on whether he was trying to goad the opponents, the Arsenal midfielder dismissed the notion. He said (via talkSPORT):

“You can hear from my voice that I am hoarse. It is a game with a lot of emotion. That’s football. It was fair enough. We wanted to focus on football.”

Switzerland manager Murat Yakin echoed Xhaka's sentiments. He said after the game:

“I saw Granit focus on football. It was a fair game. It was a normal exchange with a bit of emotions. It cost us a lot of power and a lot of emotions. We started well, took the lead, but then we lost possession twice and fell behind.”

Xhaka and Co. progressed to the knockout stages of the tournament with the win against Serbia. They finished in the second spot in Group H and will face Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the Round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Switzerland star Granit Xhaka hailed Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka's performance in 2022 FIFA World Cup

Serbia v Switzerland: Group G - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Bukayo Saka has been one of the rising stars of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Arsenal youngster bagged a brace during England's World Cup opener against Iran.

Granit Xhaka, who is teammates with Saka at the club level, praised the young Englishman. The Swiss star told talkSPORT (via The Boot Room):

“You see the generation they have, the young players, for example, Saka, he does well, he is one of us from Arsenal. Amazing guy, amazing player, he can make a difference, you saw him as well in the first game.”

Bukayo Saka had an 82 percent passing accuracy in the game against Iran, where he scored two goals (scored in the 43rd and the 62nd minute). He played a lesser role in the game against USA, with a passing accuracy of 79 percent, and just one shot for goal, that too, off target.