Captain of the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edin Džeko spoke for Face TV with Senad Hadžifejzović.
At the beginning of the conversation, they spoke about Fenerbahce and the atmosphere in Turkey, and how Edin experiences all of that, and they also spoke about his offer in Saudi Arabia.
“I’ve played in the biggest stadiums in the world that hold 50,000, 60,000 or 70,000 spectators, but nowhere have I experienced the atmosphere like here. You’ll see. Especially since the derby is a specific game. It will only “burn” there, I probably haven’t experienced that either. It’s my first derby against Galata.”
After the episode in Inter, Edin had much more attractive and richer offers, but in the end he chose Fenerbahce.
“You’ll see on Sunday (the biggest derby in Turkey, Fenerbahce – Galatasaray). It’s not all about money. I could have done it before, there was also China, there were offers, but I look at it in a different way, I have one career. I want to use it to the maximum to play at that higher level. It was number one for me. That’s why I came to Fener, so my goal was to still feel like a player. To be able to play Europe. When you get to the stadium, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Every home game when I go out, I have the same feeling – incredible,” said Dzeko at the beginning of the conversation.
Diamond (Dijamant) points out that the fans are extremely fanatical.
“The fans are really fanatical, they have that period of nine years where they haven’t won the Turkish League. This year, president Ali Koc decided to make a good team, before Fenerbahce didn’t want to bring in “stars”, now it’s a little different.”
He also touched on going to the World Championship with the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and going to the European Championship would be the crowning glory of his career.
“If we play like these qualifications, there is nothing of the sort, I am always positive, I don’t want to look at what happened, football is such a game, anything can change. We need to create some positive energy around the national team. We have nothing to do with the story, it was this way, that way, I think everyone needs to help create that atmosphere, it won’t be an easy game. If we look at our games and their games, they are absolute favorites, but favorites don’t always win.”
Continuing the conversation and going back in history, Džeko says that he left Željo in 2005 and spent two years in the Czech Republic. At the time, people thought he went there for the money, but he was following his dreams.
“The then coach told me to come to the Czech Republic. It used to happen that I had nothing to eat for the last seven days of the month. I was a roommate with Samir Merzić, he is now one of the assistant coaches in Velež. A man is not the happiest if he has money. My wife, children and I have a nice time here in Istanbul and we’ve gotten used to it.”
Edin also referred to the fact that he is 37 years old and that he is slowly coming to the end of his career.
“Borders have been pushed in the last few years. Ibrahimovic played until he was 41, and so did Totti. Previously, it was played up to the age of 32. Now the clubs look at how much you can give on the field, not how old you are. Perhaps the biggest difference I feel is the recovery between games. I used to be able to play games every three or four days, but now it’s taking longer.
Sometimes it’s good for me too when I don’t play every three days and when I rest. We are where we are. I’m still enjoying this and not thinking about what I’m going to do next. I still feel good. Of course, I am aware that the end is near. I still don’t know what I will do after my career.”
When asked if he will be a coach after the end of his career, Dzeko answered briefly:
“No. No. It’s not that I’m not interested, but I don’t think in that direction. As a football player you travel all the time, there are quarantines, but when you are a coach it is even worse. You’re never home.”
Dragons capitain also told an interesting anecdote from the time when he played for German Wolfsburg.
“Sometimes emotions cannot be controlled. We are human. Especially when playing in matches where 50,000 people are present. During my career, I tried to control myself in key situations. When I was playing in Wolfsburg, Magath brought in a man who was more like an osteopath than a psychologist. I was 21 years old then. And he tells me why I keep my head down when I miss a chance. As a young man, you think you know everything, but I only now see that experience is important. He then told me that the next time I miss a chance – keep your head up, pinch yourself, find something of your own and immediately think about how to proceed. I listened to him and then I started working for Wolfsburg. There are little things, but that’s how it is. I say football is played with your head, because you make all decisions with your head. Someone is technically better, someone worse, but in the end it’s all in the head.”