Edin Dzeko

Edin Džeko (born 17 March 1986 in Sarajevo) is a Bosnian footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League clubManchester City F.C. and the Bosnian national team. He was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year for 2009 and 2010. InBosnia and Herzegovina, he is known as "the Bosnian Diamond."

Club career

Džeko made his debut at FK Željezničar, playing as a midfielder between 2003 and 2005, but with little success. He was widely regarded as too tall, and with poor technical abilities. Džeko's coach at the time though, Jiri Plišek, saw his potential and when Plišek returned home to the Czech Republic, he advised FK Teplice to buy him. Željezničar accepted a bid of just€25,000 for Džeko, prompting one of the Bosnian club's directors to say, "[we] thought we won the lottery". He had a loanspell with Ústí nad Labem in 2005, during which he scored six goals in 15 games. Later that year, he moved back to FK Teplice, playing there until 2007. With 13 goals in 30 games, he was the top scorer of the Gambrinus liga in the 2006–07 season. Due to his excellent performances, then manager Felix Magath of VfL Wolfsburg signed him for €4 million.

Džeko stated that AC Milan have always been his favorite club and Andriy Shevchenko his favourite player. In his home inSarajevo, he still has an AC Milan jersey with the number 7 (worn by Schevchenko while at the club) on the wall in his room.

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Wolfsburg

After transferring to Wolfsburg, Džeko was an immediate hit, scoring five goals and recording three assists in 11 games. He was also named by Sportal as the best striker in the first half of the 2007–08 Bundesliga season. During his first season in Germany, Wolfsburg finished in fifth place, qualifying for a UEFA Cup spot for the 2008–09 season. Džeko finished the 2007–08 season with eight goals and seven assists in 17 games started.

After Wolfsburg acquired fellow Bosnian international Zvjezdan Misimović, Džeko's performance was explosive in the second season. Despite a slow first half of the season, Wolfsburg found their form and won their first Bundesliga title. In May 2009, Džeko scored a hat-trick against TSG Hoffenheim and another hat-trick against Hannover 96 just two weeks later, contributing towards a very strong finish to the 2008–09 season. He finished with a total of 26 league goals and 10 assists in 32 league matches. His goal tally was second only to teammate Grafite, with whom he formed the most successful strike duo in Bundesliga history. In the DFB-Pokal, he scored six goals in two matches, and in the UEFA Cup, four goals and two assists in eight matches. These performances resulted in him being given the Bundesliga Players' Footballer of the Year award. Despite attracting interest from Milan, Džeko decided to stay by renewing his contract until June 2013.[11][12]

He scored his first UEFA Champions League goal 30 September 2009 against Manchester United in a 2–1 defeat at Old Trafford. He was one of 30 players nominated for the 2009 Ballon d'Or.[15] He became the top scorer of the Bundesliga in the 2009–10 season with 22 goals scored.

On 28 August 2010, Džeko became the top league scorer in the history of the club with 59 goals in 96 appearances, surpassing Diego Klimowicz who scored 57 goals in 149 games.

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Manchester City

After heavy speculation, Roberto Mancini, manager of Manchester City confirmed that a fee had been agreed with Wolfsburg for Džeko in the amount of £27.5m, a Bundesliga record transfer fee. This was confirmed on 3 January 2011. He had his medical in London on 5 January, before City played against Arsenal. On 7 January Džeko was confirmed as a Manchester City player. He has joined the club on a four and a half year deal.

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International career

Džeko's first appearance for his home country came with the Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-19 football team. He was also part of the under-21 team and played in the play-off's hosted in the Netherlands in 2007. Bosnia's first challenges in this competition were Armenia and Norway. They beat Armenia 3–2 and tied with Norway 1–1, qualifying for the playoff against the Czech Republic. In the first leg, Bosnia lost 2–1; in the second, the game ended in a 1–1 draw. Džeko scored several goals in the tournament.

He made his senior debut against Turkey on 2 June 2007. It was a memorable debut for the player, with a volleyed goal from the edge of the penalty area during the first half stoppage time. The goal leveled the score at 2–2 and Bosnia went on to win 3–2.[3] He scored nine goals in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying and finished as the second best scorer in UEFA qualification, tied with England's Wayne Rooney, both behind Greek striker Theofanis Gekas' 10 goals.

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UNICEF Ambassador

In November 2009, Džeko became Bosnia's first UNICEF ambassador. He has since visited several schools in poor areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina and helped children who have had traumatic experiences related to the war in Bosnia and other situations.

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Career statistics

Club performanceLeagueCupContinentalTotal SeasonClubLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Bosnia-HerzegovinaLeagueBosnian CupEuropeTotal Czech RepublicLeagueCzech Republic CupEuropeTotal GermanyLeagueDFB-PokalEuropeTotal TotalBosnia and Herzegovina Czech Republic Germany Career total209931010179236123

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International goals

#DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition

1.	2 June 2007	Kosevo Stadium, Sarajevo	Turkey	2–2	3–2	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2.	10 September 2008	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Estonia	5–0	7–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	10 September 2008	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Estonia	6–0	7–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	11 October 2008	BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul	Turkey	0–1	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	15 October 2008	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Armenia	2–0	4–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	20 November 2008	Stadion Ljudski vrt, Maribor	Slovenia	1–3	3–4	Friendly match
7.	28 March 2009	Cristal Stadium, Genk	Belgium	0–1	2–4	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.	1 April 2009	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Belgium	1–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.	1 April 2009	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Belgium	2–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.	6 June 2009	Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Cannes	Oman	1–0	2–1	Friendly match
11.	12 August 2009	Kosevo Stadium, Sarajevo	Iran	1–0	2–3	Friendly match
12.	12 August 2009	Kosevo Stadium, Sarajevo	Iran	2–0	2–3	Friendly match
13.	10 October 2009	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn	Estonia	0–1	0–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.	14 October 2009	Bilino Polje, Zenica	Spain	2–5	2–5	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.	3 June 2010	Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt	Germany	1–0	1–3	Friendly match
16.	3 September 2010	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	0–3	0–3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
17.	17 November 2010	Štadión Pasienky, Bratislava	Slovakia	1–3	2–3	Friendly match

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Honours

Wolfsburg

• Bundesliga: 2008–09

Individual

• Bundesliga players' German Footballer of the Year for season 2008–09
• Bundesliga Top-Scorer 2009–10 with 22 Goals
• 13th place for Ballon d'Or 2009
• Bosnian Footballer of the Year in 2009 and 2010

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