Edin Dzeko retirement: Edin Dzeko Announces Bosnia Retirement After Sweden Match
Bosnia and Herzegovina captain Edin Dzeko announced Thursday that he will retire from international football after October’s Nations League match against Sweden.
The veteran forward, who plays for Schalke in Germany’s Bundesliga, turned 40 in March.
“Now I feel the time has come to step aside,” Dzeko said in a social media post.
“If I have made it to the age of 40 with the national team, it is because I truly gave everything I had. Every time. Everything.”
Known to Bosnia fans as “Dijamant,” meaning “diamond” in Bosnian, Dzeko has been the national team’s captain since 2014.
“Nothing in my career has ever compared to the pride I have felt every single time I wore that shirt. Nothing,” he said.
Dzeko signed a one-year contract extension with Schalke in August after helping the club return to the Bundesliga last season following three years in Germany’s second tier. He joined Schalke on a free transfer from Fiorentina in January.
His former clubs include Wolfsburg, Manchester City, Roma, Inter Milan and Fenerbahce. The Sarajevo-born forward began his club career with Zeljeznicar.
Dzeko has made 151 appearances and scored 73 goals for Bosnia and Herzegovina since making his international debut against Turkey in June 2007. He is the country’s most-capped player and all-time leading scorer.
On Thursday, Dzeko called on supporters to attend his farewell match against Sweden on Oct. 2 in Zenica.
“For now, I just hope you will be there that night against Sweden, so we can share one more emotion … because every one of these incredible moments has been something we have lived together,” he wrote.
“And that is how I want to experience my final night representing my country: with all of you by my side, wearing the shirt I have loved since I was a boy, and the shirt I will love for the rest of my life.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Nations League matches against Poland, Romania, and Sweden from late September through early October.
Dzeko recently led Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup in North America, the Balkan nation’s second appearance at football’s global showpiece. Bosnia and Herzegovina were eliminated by co-host the United States in the round of 32.
