TODAY WE ARE NOT SAYING GOODBYE TO FOOTBALLERS. TODAY WE ARE SAYING GOODBYE TO AN ERA

Dear Edin,

I address you by your first name name, because you are the One for all the happy people who carry your name in their hearts.

At the moment when the last page of an exceptional representative chapter is being written, I want to send you sincere gratitude and deep respect for all the years, effort, emotions and immense contribution you have woven into Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sport, but also the lives of children for whom you were a role model and motivation.

We will remember with pride all that you, wearing the shirt of Bosnia and Herzegovina, represented on and off the field. You were and remain a symbol of fighting spirit, dedication, dignity and love for the homeland, and your name is a name that will be carried throughout the history of not only sports.

There are sports careers that are measured by trophies, goals and records, and there are also those that are measured by people’s hearts.

Yours belongs to the latter.

Your goals remain written in the history of sports, but the emotions you created will remain written in the hearts of generations.

You were and still are an inspiration to children who put on football boots for the first time, to young athletes who dreamed of playing on the big field and to all those who, looking at you in a jersey with the national emblem, felt special pride.

When you went out on the field, Bosnia and Herzegovina went out with you.

That’s why your farewell to the national team is not the end of an exceptional sporting era.

It is a moment in which a great sports story is acknowledged.

The Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports thanks you for every match, every goal, every fight and every moment in which you represented Bosnia and Herzegovina with dignity around the world.

Thank you for showing that the greatness of an athlete is not only reflected in what he achieves on the field, but also in the mark he leaves behind.