MANCHESTER CITY icon Edin Dzeko is looking to cause a shock or two at the World Cup – but he has his mum to thank for saving his life.
The striker, 40, donned the captain’s armband as Bosnia and Herzegovina bagged their spot at the tournament by sealing a penalty shoot-out win over Italy in the play-offs.
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Edin Dzeko will be Bosnia and Herzegovina’s skipper at the World Cup Credit: Getty
The striker’s mum saved his life as a child Credit: Getty
And Dzeko led the celebrations at a nightclub despite having his arm wrapped up in a sling.
But the former Etihad Stadium favourite was lucky to survive when, aged six, the Siege of Sarajevo began.
Dzeko was forced to move into his grandparents’ tiny apartment after his family home was bombed.
The prolific marksman carried on playing football with his pals despite the missiles raining down on his war-torn homeland.
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But Dzeko’s mum Belma refused to let him leave her sight one day, which resulted in him narrowly escaping death.
The former Roma man, who has prepared for the World Cup by winning promotion to the Bundesliga with Schalke, said: “My mother saved my life when I was a child.
“She did not let me go and play football with my friends in Bosnia. A few minutes later, a bomb exploded on the spot and killed my friends.
“I didn’t have a childhood because of the war but all that made me stronger.”
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Dzeko’s pals were killed when war broke out Credit: Getty
Belma, who saw Dzeko bag the Premier League title twice with City, said: “When he went out to play football I was very scared.
“I did not forbid him to go out to play, even if it was crazy. He was playing all the time, the war meant nothing to him.
“He was crying [when I said he couldn’t play football one day], it hurt me. But a shell fell exactly where Edin played with other children. There were dead and wounded.”
Dzeko is set to reach the milestone of 150 caps at the World Cup, where Bosnia will battle it out with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B.
And he notched 72 goals during a stunning five-year spell with City, which saw him win the FA Cup and Carabao Cup as well as being crowned a Premier League champion in 2012 and 2014.
Bosnia jetted out to the World Cup with an unofficial anthem which has gone viral.
