Elmedin Kikanović says goodbye to the BiH national team

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - One of the best basketball players in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Kikanović, has announced the end of his national team career. 

The former captain of the national team announced a public letter in which he stated that he will no longer play for the BiH national team, as he believes it is time for younger players to get a chance. 

- That August 13, 2006, is forever etched in my memory. A friendly match between the BiH and Hungarian national teams and my debut in the senior national team. The packed "Luke" hall in Bihać and my first points in my dearest jersey. At the age of 17, or four years after I started playing basketball, I realized my dream of playing on the same team with players I had only watched on television or cheered for from the stands of Tuzla's Mejdana when the national team played in Tuzla. I went from being a participant in the Sloboda Dita Basketball School, through being a cadet and junior national team player, to the status of a senior national team player. It was the culmination of four years of work.

Today, 14 years after my first appearance for the cadet national team of BiH, or slightly more than 12 years after my first appearance for the senior national team of BiH, it is time for farewell. Unfortunately, the chances of qualifying for the World Cup in China are practically lost, and the next European Championship is scheduled for 2021. I believe it is the right time for young players to take the leading roles and for a team to be affirmed and crystallized through this three-year period, which will not only qualify for the 2021 European Championship but also be a significant factor in it.

I thank all my teammates, it was a pleasure to share the locker room with you. It is the greatest wealth to meet a large number of quality people and friends for life, and the national team brought me that. Together we celebrated great victories, together we grieved in defeats, we were each other's greatest support and encouragement.

I would like to thank all the employees of the KSBIH, the people who were involved in the work, or in any way helped the functioning of the national team. I owe great gratitude to all the coaches, from Nenad Marković, who first included me in the senior national team, through Mensur Bajramović, the late Sabit Hadžić, Aco Petrović, Duško Ivanović, Damir Mulaomerović, Duško Vujošević, to Jasmin Repeša. It was a privilege to work with you.

Thank you for improving and upgrading my game, each in your own way. Thanks also to all the coaches who were in the professional staffs of the aforementioned coaches, and I would especially like to thank the medical-technical team consisting of: Elvir Bijedić, Amer Salihagić, and Medin Duškaj. They were there from my first day in the national team in 2006 (Elvir a little longer, as we started working together in Sloboda Dita in 2003), taking care of the health of the national team players and trying to ensure we lacked nothing.

A big thank you also to all the fans who cheered us on in both victories and defeats, confirming that Bosnia is loved both when it loses and when it leads! That feeling of playing for the national team would not be the same without you. Huge gratitude to the BHFanaticos fan group, as you spared no effort in cheering us on all over Europe. You are responsible for us feeling like we were playing at home in every European arena.

Finally, I would have a message for the younger national team players, whose time is coming. Playing for the national team is the greatest honor and privilege that a professional athlete can experience. I have tried to show by personal example that responding to the national team call should not be in question.

At a time when the culture of the national team is being lost in many national teams, be honest and responsible towards your country, towards the fans, and respond to the call with special joy and a smile, because playing for the best national team of your country is precisely that - a special joy. And when you put on the sacred blue and yellow jersey, be aware of its weight and responsibility, give your best, and no one will blame you.

I wish much success in the work of the new leadership of KSBIH, headed by president Mirza Teletović, as well as the future coach. You will always have a sincere and ardent fan in me - wrote Elmedin Kikanović in his farewell message.