10 things you need to know about Edin Dzeko

Nick Brown presents the ultimate lowdown on Roma’s new hero…

1. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Džeko is known as ‘Bosanski dijamant’, which roughly translates as the ‘Bosnian Diamond’. The nickname was given to the striker in March 2009 by Bosnian commentator Marjan Mijajlovic who had just witnessed a fantastic goal by the forward in a game against Belgium.

2. He made his senior international debut against Turkey on June 2, 2007. As far as debuts go, it couldn’t have gone much better. With Bosnia trailing 2-1, Džeko scored an amazing volley to level the scores before his country went on to win 3-2.

3. If you’re going to become your country’s top scorer ever, you may as well do it in style. On September 8, 2012, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team beat Liechtenstein 8-1 with Džeko scoring a hat-trick. The three goals were enough to take his total for his country to 24 - two more than the previous record held by Elvir Bolic.

4. It isn’t only in his home country that Edin holds records. During the 2011-2012 English Premier League season, Džeko became the first player for Manchester City to score four goals in a single game. The striker’s dream match against Tottenham Hotspur included the ‘perfect’ hat-trick – a goal with his right foot, left foot and head.

5. If he wasn’t already a legend in his homeland, he certainly was after he fired Bosnia and Herzegovina to the 2014 World Cup. His 10 goals during the qualifying campaign made sure his country qualified for their first ever major international tournament.

6. Edin may be the new hero of the football-obsessed boys and girls of Rome but as a youngster growing up in Sarajevo, it was a striker from AC Milan whom he most admired. Ever since he can remember watching football, Andriy Shevchenko has been his favourite player.

7. Considering how prolific he has been for both club and country, it’s hard to believe that he didn’t even begin his career as a striker. His first position was in midfield and he struggled so badly that many thought he would never make it to the top. After changing club, country and position, he never looked back.

8. Everyone in Bosnia has a war story to tell and Edin Džeko is no different. Whilst many of his international team-mates fled Sarajevo when the city came under siege, the youngster’s family refused to leave. After moving from home to home, he ended up spending the years between the age of six and 10 in a his grandparents’ one-bedroom basement flat with over 12 members of his family. Ten years later, Džeko became Bosnia's first UNICEF ambassador.

9. Considering how much money has been spent on acquiring his services throughout his career, officials at his first club may have cause to regret celebrating when they sold him on the cheap. Having struggled to find the net at Zeljeznicar, one director proclaimed he thought ‘we had won the lottery’ when Czech side Teplice paid 21,000 pounds for the 18-year-old. Big mistake.

10. With almost 1,400 tweets posted, Edin is pretty active on social media. Over 1.3m fans already follow his Twitter account @EdDzeko and we think he may have a few more after he scores his first goal for Roma!

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