World Cup: Edin Dzeko still strong for Bosnia-Herzegovina
Key takeaways
- With so much unpleasantness surrounding this year's World Cup it's easy to forget that there's anything about it that can elicit a smile.
- But 12 years after Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to make it out of the group stage in Brazil, the now 40-year-old striker and his country are back on the game's biggest stage.
- That independence came at a heavy price, as it was engulfed in one of the wars that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
With so much unpleasantness surrounding this year's World Cup it's easy to forget that there's anything about it that can elicit a smile. But the story of Bosnia-Herzegovina captain Edin Dzeko sure can.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EVv BEdin Dzeko helped Schalke win Bundesliga 2 and gain promotion back to the topflight Image: Maximilian Koch/picture alliance Advertisement If Edin Dzeko played for a bigger footballing nation, this wouldn't be just his second appearance at the tournament. But 12 years after Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to make it out of the group stage in Brazil, the now 40-year-old striker and his country are back on the game's biggest stage.
Although Bosnia-Herzegovina, which gained its independence in 1992, has only made it to the one previous World Cup and never qualified for a European Championship, Dzeko has played an incredible 148 times (scoring 73 goals) for his country.