Haris Medunjanin’s soccer career has taken him to clubs on three continents and international tournaments on four. But the adventures he’s embarked on are forever linked to his rocky upbringing in the former Yugoslavia — Medunjanin fled the war-torn country as a 7-year-old for the safe harbor of the Netherlands.
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Soccer helped bring him back to his home, now the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a national team for which Medunjanin starred for nearly a decade before calling an end to his impressive international career two weeks ago. The Union midfielder finished with 60 caps and nine goals in his play for his country, ranking seventh- and ninth-most, respectively, in Bosnia and Herzegovina history. He was on the team’s roster for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a monumental step for the program, which only started playing games in 1993 while in the throes of civil war and didn’t join FIFA until the months leading up to the cessation of three years of hostilities in 1995. He departs as many of the players ahead of him in terms of caps – Edin Dzeko, Asmir Begovic, Miralem Pjanic – are household names to followers of European soccer. He also captained Bosnia to winning the 2016 Kirin Cup, a four-team invitational in Japan in which Medunjanin hit the game-winning penalty kick in the semifinals to see his team through against Denmark.
Medunjanin captained the side in recent months after the Dragons’ failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and the 33-year-old thought it was time to step away and let the next generation of players under a new coach work toward qualification for the 2020 European Championship tournament.
Medunjanin sat down with The Athletic last week to reflect on the highlights of his international career and what the identity of his country has meant to him as a soccer player. Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
The Athletic: What made now the right time to call time on your international career?
Medunjanin: It was already I think in the last game of the qualifiers, when we played Belgium at home, for me it was the key also there to retire. (Ed. note: Medunjanin started and scored in the 4-3 loss on Oct. 7, 2017 that ended Bosnia and Herzegovina’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup.) But when you talk with your family and they want me to play when I come there to visit them, I continued. And then we started a new chapter with qualifiers and for me it was time to give the young guys the opportunity. They started a new qualification with a new coach, so it was the right moment for me.
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The Athletic: You had a lot of experience with the Dutch youth national teams. How important was that upbringing in developing you as a player?
Medunjanin: I think if anybody can go to Holland at a young age to learn from their schools, I think it’s a plus for all the young kids because they train from the age of maybe six, seven, eight, they’re already teaching you how to control the ball, how to pass the ball. That’s why a lot of Dutch kids have good passing ability and they are so smart. I think for everybody who can go to the Dutch school, it’s a plus.
The Athletic: What was the decision like in 2009 when Bosnia and Herzegovina gives you that call, to decide between the Netherlands and your home country? Was it difficult?
Medunjanin: You need to be honest: In 2009, the Dutch national team squad was amazing, all of them playing in the biggest teams in the world. You as a young kid, it was difficult to come over there and I talked with my family. For them, it was most important to play for my country. That’s why I made this choice, to play for my country because I still feel part of my country. I still have family over there and I still play for them. I’m honored to be part of that squad who made the World Cup. For me, it was a nice thing and a highlight in my career.
The Athletic: You were in a unique situation there in 2009 in that it’s still a relatively new program – Bosnia and Herzegovina had only been competing in FIFA for less than 10 years. How was that different, stepping into a new program as opposed to being somewhere like the Dutch system where they have that long history?
Medunjanin: It was a little bit different. In Bosnia, they are a little bit behind with everything, so they don’t have the possibilities that the Dutch school has, that the Dutch national team has. But we have a lot of very technical players and a lot of smart players who played in the biggest leagues in the world. For us, we had a good generation at that time, so we could – I think it was a little bit more committed for our team, for our country that we could’ve played like maybe two World Cups and two European Cups. So I think that’s a little bit of a pity about that, that we didn’t succeed for that. But that’s life. We achieved one time the World Cup and I hope they will continue and fight for it to qualify for this European Cup.
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The Athletic: Your first game, your first start, is the biggest to date for Bosnia and Herzegovina (a two-leg, home-and-home playoff with Portugal in the second round of UEFA’s World Cup qualifiers, the last chance to get to the 2010 World Cup finals). What did that feel like, stepping into that situation, and what are your memories of that game?
Medunjanin: Yeah, it was difficult. We played in the playoff against Portugal, and then the first game you’re on the bench and we just lose 1-0 in Portugal. And then the second game, all of a sudden, two key guys in the midfield, they got suspended for the game and one guy got injured, so you need to step up. First time in your career as an international player and you play this important game against Portugal, that if you win you go to the World Cup. But it was a nice experience for me and I learned from that. It was a very difficult game and we lost that game, but from that, we learned so we had the third possibility after that to qualify ourselves for the World Cup, so it was a nice feeling. I will always have positive things about that national team.
The Athletic: Remembering that first World Cup game – you’re in the Maracana Stadium in Rio, you’re playing Argentina and Lionel Messi – that reads like a dream that a kid would have. What was it like to experience that?
Medunjanin: Of course, it’s a dream come true. That’s what you train all these years for, to play on the biggest stage in the world. And even in Brazil, to go over there and to play this game. It was an amazing feeling. I think I will never forget that. It was too bad, I think we had a chance to go to the second round, but that’s how it is. That’s soccer. You win, you lose and we didn’t qualify ourselves for that second round, but it was a really nice experience.
The Athletic: And you come out of that Argentina game with a nice souvenir from Messi, right?
Medunjanin: We knew each other because we both played in Spain (Messi with Barcelona, Medunjanin with Real Valladolid). He knows me and I talked to him about, if you want to exchange the jerseys, and he said “no problem.” It was a nice gift for me and I’ll always remember that.
The Athletic: How has the opportunity to play for Bosnia kind of reshaped your relationship with the country? The terms you left that country on are extraordinary; has it helped you develop a relationship with the new, modern version of Bosnia?
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Medunjanin: Of course, because I left at the age of seven years old, so for me, my family was always there, so I always visited over there. You never forget where you come from. Every time I’m free, I’m going over there. Most of my close family is living in Sarajevo so I’m always there, I always like to come over there and I always like to be over there. But then you grew up in Holland so that feels also like a home for me. But Bosnia will always feel like my No. 1 home because my family is there and I’m from there, I was born there, so I like to be over there.
The Athletic: So many people struggled to make Bosnian independence happen and to have Bosnia form its own identity. Does being able to endure those struggles like you did and grow to represent the national team, is that a way to feel connected to the country and what it took to create it?
Medunjanin: This is how people were living there. They were hoping that we’d qualify, they were all living for a game of ours. When you go over there in those years, like 2010, 2011, when it was like so up-and-coming, the national team, and you go over there, there were like 50,000 people there but we had stadiums for maybe only 12,000 people. Everybody wants to be there at the stadium, but when you play in the stadiums, small stadium, you feel like there’s 50,000 people there, cheering you, loving you and that’s a nice atmosphere, very nice to be part of that. I think for them, that we qualified, they already forgot all their struggles and they see the national team going to the World Cup, so they already forgot all those struggle that they had in the past and still have now, and also I think we could help them with that a little bit.
The Athletic: All the things you accomplished with Bosnia and Herzegovina, what’s the warmest memories you take away from all those years?
Medunjanin: Going to the World Cup, to be on the main stage and to play over there, and I think also one highlight for me is to go to Japan and win the (Kirin Cup) trophy as a captain. That’s a very nice highlight in my career, and I think I will always remember that and respect that.
Top photo: Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports