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'I doubt he'll come, he'll be smaller than a poppy seed' – Shaqiri warned of hostile Red Star reception

Xherdan Shaqiri will probably avoid travelling with Liverpool for their Champions League match at Red Star Belgrade due to the hostile reception he would certainly receive, according to the Serbian club's sporting director Zvezdan Terzic.

Shaqiri featured in one of the most controversial moments of this year's World Cup, when he celebrated his winning goal in Switzerland's 2-1 triumph over Serbia by imitating the two-headed eagle in Albania's flag, something team-mate Granit Xhaka also did earlier in the game.

The celebration was a reference to Shaqiri's Kosovan heritage, as he was born in the partially recognised nation which was fought over by forces from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Montenegro and Serbia at the time – and the Kosovo Liberation Army in the late 1990s.