SPORTSWORLD.AM
German Schalke 04 striker Edin Dzeko, 40, has announced that the Nations League match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sweden on October 2 will be his last for the national team.
"Sometimes I wondered when this moment would finally come... But I never imagined how strong my feelings would be as I wrote these words. On October 2nd, against Sweden, I will play my next and last match for our national team. Nothing in my career can compare to the pride I feel every time I put on this jersey. Nothing."
This was my childhood dream, a dream that I have carried with me on each of the 151 occasions I have had the honour of representing my country on the football pitch. I have always been as proud of it as I was the first time. It has been almost 20 years since I played against Turkey. A lot has changed, and I have changed too, but my love for this shirt has remained the same. Now I feel it is time to step aside. If I have reached the age of 40 as a member of the national team, it is because I have truly given it everything I had. Every time. Everything.
Playing for my country was the most emotional moment in football for me. Qualifying for our first World Cup in 2014 remains one of the happiest moments of my footballing life. The emotions I felt on the night of the goal against Wales, then in Zenica against Italy in March, will forever be etched in my heart. Seeing my compatriots celebrate in the streets of our cities is another incredible gift that football has given me.
"It will be a time to thank everyone who was there and supported me on this remarkable journey. For now, I just hope you will be there that evening so we can share another feeling...
"Because we have lived each of these incredible moments together. And that is exactly how I want to spend my last evening representing my country: next to all of you, wearing the jersey that I have loved since childhood and will love for the rest of my life," Dzeko wrote on social media.