Legends Depart: Miske, Spaha, and Vedo Marked BiH Football History

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The friendly match between the national teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in Zenica will be remembered in the history of BiH football as the match where three legends of our football, Vedad Ibišević, Zvjezdan Misimović, and Emir Spahić, bid farewell to the national team jersey.

This trio has been the backbone of the BiH team for over a decade and will forever be remembered as part of the generation that achieved our national team's first and only appearance at the World Cup.

Each of the three had a different career path.

Zvjezdan Misimović in a duel with Javier Mascherano (Argentina) at the World Cup

Zvjezdan Misimović was born on June 5, 1982, in Munich to a family of BiH guest workers who left Bosanska Gradiška in the late sixties in search of a better life. Legendary Miske started his career playing for several local youth clubs, before beginning his professional football career in 2000 with Germany's biggest club, Bayern.

In four years, Misimović played over a hundred matches for Bayern's second team and three matches for the first team. He later played for several German clubs such as Bochum, Nuremberg, and Wolfsburg, where he left his biggest mark. In tandem with Edin Džeko, he brought Wolfsburg their only championship title in the club's history in 2008. He later played for Galatasaray, Dynamo Moscow, and Chinese clubs Guizhou Renhe and Beijing Renhe, where he ended his playing career. Towards the end of his career, his move to Sarajevo was mentioned, but the transfer did not materialize, so Miske never played for a BiH club during his career.

If he didn't play for a club, he at least played for the national team. And brilliantly. Misimović played one match for the youth national team of the then-SFR Yugoslavia, but coach Vladimir Petrović told him he was slow and overweight, and that there was no place for him in the national team. Nobody in BiH knew about him, but the good fortune was that Hasan Salihamidžić was at Bayern, who asked Miske if he wanted to play for his parents' homeland, which he gladly accepted. This was followed by a call-up from coach Blaž Slišković for a friendly match against Macedonia on February 18, 2004, and from then on, Misimović became an indispensable member of the national team. He played a total of 83 matches and scored 25 goals for the BiH national team.

Emir Spahić in a match against Nigeria at the World Cup

Like Misimović, Emir Spahić was also born abroad. He was born on August 18, 1980, in Dubrovnik, and began his playing career in Zenica in the jersey of Čelik. Besides Čelik, during his career, he also played for GOŠK from Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Šibenik, Moscow clubs Torpedo and Lokomotiv, Montpellier, Sevilla, Anzhi, Bayer Leverkusen, and he finished his career in the jersey of the great German club HSV.

Like Miske, Blaž Slišković gave him a chance in the national team, against Romania on June 7, 2003. He immediately became one of the key players of the national team and a man without whom the defense of our team could not be imagined. In 11 years in the national team jersey, he played 93 matches, making him the record holder, and scored three goals. He will be remembered in history as the first captain to lead the BiH national team to the World Cup.

During his national team career, especially in the last few years, he was often the target of public criticism due to his attitude towards the media. He rarely gave interviews to journalists, but regardless of all that, nothing can change the fact that he was one of our best players after the war.

Vedad Ibišević celebrates a goal against Argentina at the 2014 World Cup

Vedad Ibišević had the hardest life journey. He was born in Vlasenica on August 6, 1984, from where he had to flee with his family when he was eight years old due to the aggression against BiH. Life took him through Switzerland to America, where he began his playing career in St. Louis. After several years playing for college clubs in America, he came to the great PSG in 2004 under Vahid Halilhodžić.

After Paris, he played for Dijon, Aachen, Hoffenheim, for whom he scored 48 goals in 123 matches, Stuttgart, and Hertha, for which he still plays today. Although he still plays quite well and scores goals in the Berlin club's jersey, Vedo decided to end his national team career and make way for younger players.

In the national team jersey, Ibišević played 82 matches and scored 28 goals. However, his two goals can never be forgotten. In Kaunas, on October 15, 2013, he scored the winning goal against Lithuania 1-0, securing historic qualification for the World Cup, and on June 15, 2014, in a 2-1 loss against Argentina at the famous Maracanã, he scored the first goal for BiH at the World Cup.

In 2008, he was chosen as the best player in BiH and earned the nickname Idol of the Nation. He justified the status of the idol of the nation with his performances and behavior on and off the field. For the fans, he was always one of the most beloved players, who never caused any problems.

After all they have given to the BiH national team, a farewell match is the least they could be given in return.

Three legends deserved it.