“Switzerland slept with me”

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It’s a life choice. One minute, one substitution, one use for the A-Nati in a competitive game is enough. You are bound forever. Darian Males (21) can currently sing a song, an anthem, about it. The Serbian association is fiercely looking for the FCB top scorer to court and wants to convince the Lucerne player to change association.

Zdravko Kuzmanovic, from the Bernese Oberland, who decided for Serbia and against Switzerland at the age of 19, thinks it is right that the Serbs compete for the men. But he doesn’t want to tip the young attacking player. “He has to weigh up where he gets the most appreciation and what the future plans look like in concrete terms. But in the end he has to decide for himself.”

He himself has never regretted his switch from the Swiss U21 to the Serbian A-Nati. “I have played more than 50 international matches, been captain and participated in a World Cup,” says Kuzmanovic.

The Serbian president flew to Florence

The appreciation of the Serbs was palpable from the start. “When I moved from FCB to Florence, the president of the Football Association of Serbia flew to Italy to convince me.” He didn’t hear much from the SFV at that time. “There have been many cases where Switzerland has been sleeping. Not just me. But also with Rakitic and Petric’, says Kuzmanovic, who later also played for VfB Stuttgart and Inter Milan. The SFV probably underestimated him. “You probably thought it wasn’t enough. And that I won’t prevail in Florence.”

At the time, Kuzmanovic was one of the first to decide to change federation. The reactions were fierce. “I was the boogeyman for many. I had no idea what would happen in the media. I was so young.”

Mother pleaded for Switzerland

His parents played no role in the decision. «My mother wanted me to play for Switzerland. My father told me to decide for myself,” says Kuzmanovic.

Asked if he would have played 51 caps for Switzerland given the fierce competition in central midfield, the 35-year-old replies with the usual confidence: “When you see the clubs I’ve played for, I think the other players are afraid that I should have had sooner.”

Source : Blick