Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri did nothing wrong.

Their celebration of their goals during Switzerland’s World Cup win on Friday over Serbia by locking their thumbs and spreading their fingers to make their hands look like the double-headed eagle seen on the Albanian flag was expression of joy at their success and pride in being ‘Shqiptars’, a derogatory term used by Serbs for any ethnic Albanian of Kosovo origin.

In Serbia, a country known for its intolerance towards Albanians, Shaqiri’s and Xhaka’s celebrations have been dubbed “primitive”, “hostile”, “insulting” and “offensive”.

Many Serbs felt enraged, not just by losing the match to Switzerland because of goals by two men of Kosovo Albanian origins, but by the players’ double-headed eagle gesture.