In the letter he wrote for the media platform The Players’ Tribune, Edin Dzeko said, “Dear children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I have a message for you. Nothing is impossible. Nothing.” he said.
The 40-year-old football player reminded him of the time when the Serbs besieged the capital Sarajevo.
“I don’t like to talk about the Siege of Sarajevo, but it’s important for you to understand what it was really like. I was six years old when it started. I remember my mother grabbing me and hiding behind the shoe closet when the first sirens went off. That was the first day. It lasted four years. We didn’t fully understand what was going on, but we were in terror every day. When our house became too unsafe for us, we moved into my grandparents’ flat. I think it was about 40 square metres. 15 of us were sleeping on the floor,” Dzeko said. he commented.
“WE WANTED TO PLAY FOOTBALL OUTSIDE”
Dzeko stated that he could not go anywhere else except the house because he did not feel safe outside the house and that they lived in fear, and continued his words as follows:
“We wanted to play football outside, but every day we saw innocent people being taken to the hospital in ambulances. But how can you keep a child in a house for four years? Of course you can’t, and our elders knew it. On the rare occasions when things seemed calm, my mother would let us go out. We would go out and play football with the other kids in the neighborhood.”
“EVERYTHING WAS SHATTERED”
Emphasizing that his father has an important place in his life, Dzeko stated that his favorite player is Ukrainian football player Andriy Shevchenko and said:
“Everything was shattered. I only played football because I loved it. My father used to be a breadwinner. When I joined my first club, he would take breaks from his job and drive me around. On the road, he always told me: ‘Be polite, treat everyone the same, it doesn’t matter where they are from or what they do.’ he would say. I never forgot this. He also played football in the lower leagues, he was my hero. When I got out of the car, he would give me a banana and say, ‘Good luck, son.’ he would say. We would watch matches on TV together on weekends. At that time, Serie A was the best league. Have you heard of Shevchenko? I adored him. I loved Italy very much. It felt like a fairy tale from the other side of the world. I couldn’t even dream of playing football there. My only goal was to play football in Zeljeznicar’s A team. One of my coaches started calling me Sheva because I was blonde and I was scoring a lot of goals. I liked it.”
Emphasizing the ethnic diversity of the people living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the experienced actor said, “Do me one last favor, okay? Sarajevo, Rome or St. Louis, wherever you live; whether you are Muslim, Jewish, Catholic or Orthodox. Never forget where you come from. You are Bosnian. The world is at your feet. I love you all very much. With love, Edin.” he said.