{"id":3881,"date":"2026-05-12T23:07:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T23:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=3881"},"modified":"2026-05-12T23:07:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T23:07:58","slug":"how-wisconsins-milwaukee-messi-led-bosnia-and-herzegovina-to-the-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=3881","title":{"rendered":"How Wisconsin&#039;s &#039;Milwaukee Messi&#039; Led Bosnia And Herzegovina To The World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Before he became a hero for an unlikely World Cup team that knocked out a historic powerhouse, Esmir Bajraktarevi\u0107 was a kid from a small Midwestern town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107, who picked up the nickname &#8220;Milwaukee Messi&#8221; along his journey, etched his name in lore back in March for Bosnia and Herzegovina by eliminating Italy from contention for this summer&#8217;s tournament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 may not have grown up in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the 21-year-old was raised eating borek (a savory, flaky pastry filled with cheese, spinach or meat) and cevapi (sausages made of minced meat). He was brought up understanding the struggles of his parents who escaped a war-torn country to settle in Appleton, Wisconsin, which has a population of 75,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>He spoke Bosnian and listened to Bosnian music at home, and loved to play soccer in the backyard with his brother. They practiced penalty kicks every day, usually imagining German legend Manuel Neuer in goal. Bajraktarevic dreamed of scoring in the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Image Photo Agency\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>It&#8217;s why, as he stepped up to take up the decisive penalty against the Azzurri on a chilly night in the Bosnian town of Zenica and a World Cup spot on the line \u2014 with one of his childhood idols in Edin Dzeko standing mere yards behind him \u2014 Bajraktarevi\u0107 was up for the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>&#8220;Here it is,&#8221; Bajraktarevi\u0107 told himself, &#8220;I can win it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>And so he drilled a left-footed shot under the diving Italian captain and Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. As the ball hit the bottom left corner of the net, the PSV Eindhoven winger ran toward supporters in the stands, tore off his shirt and held it up proudly in front of a roaring crowd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>&#8220;It\u2019s one of the best feelings I\u2019ve ever had in my life,&#8221; Bajraktarevi\u0107 told me about the moment, before joking that he knows there\u2019s a video clip somewhere of him crying. &#8220;It was like a dream come true. It sounds [cheesy], but that\u2019s the only way I can explain it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107&#8217;s penalty kick meant Italy would miss a third straight World Cup, and it placed Bosnia and Herzegovina in a winnable Group B alongside co-hosts Canada, as well as Qatar and Switzerland.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Samir Jordamovic\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>This summer, Bajraktarevi\u0107 will return home to the United States to play in a World Cup in front of family and friends. He played for the U.S. youth national teams and made his senior team debut in January 2024 under Mauricio Pochettino. Later that year, however, he made the difficult decision to switch affiliations and represent Bosnia and Herzegovina instead. U.S. Soccer tried to keep him, but in the end, the tug of his heritage was too strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"This was something that I was dreaming about since I was a kid, representing your country at the highest level,\" Bajraktarevi\u0107 added. \"The opportunity was there, and I just chose to go. I didn\u2019t compare the two [national teams]. It was just, Bosnia called, and it was really special for me.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 grew up playing and watching a lot of soccer and with his brother, Osman. Their dad, Elmir, might have had a chance to play professionally had it not been for the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"It\u2019s really all I knew since I was a baby,\" Bajraktarevi\u0107 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>He never rooted for a specific team, he said, but his favorite players were Cristiano Ronaldo and Dzeko, the Bosnian veteran who has taken the youngster under his wing since joining the national team.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"It\u2019s unreal,\" Bajraktarevi\u0107 said, smiling while talking about the footballing icon. \"I don\u2019t even have words to describe it. Now he\u2019s like one of my friends, which is crazy.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107\u2019s youth soccer career started 100 miles south of Appleton in Milwaukee, and in Chicago, before he was discovered by New England Revolution brass. When he was 16, he was recruited to play for the MLS club\u2019s academy team and moved from Wisconsin to Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Leaving home was rough at first, and Bajraktarevi\u0107 cried a lot. His mom used to send care packages with bananica, a chocolate-covered banana candy that\u2019s popular in Southeastern Europe, which reminded him of home. Eventually, he made friends, got used to a routine and started showing his stuff on the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>His rise through the Revs' system was quick. On his first day with the academy team, the teenager turned heads, forcing then-technical director Curt Onalfo to say, \"We\u2019ve got to get him with the second team.\" So he signed a contract with the second team (which plays in MLS Next Pro), and within a year, Onalfo said they ripped it up and signed him to the first team (which plays in MLS).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 eventually became the first player from the Revolution\u2019s academy residency program to ascend to the first-team roster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Onalfo, now the Revs sporting director, said it wasn\u2019t hard to know that Bajraktarevi\u0107 was ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"If you were to come and watch our second team play, you would be like, \u2018Oh wow, Esmir is really effing good,\u2019\" Onalfo told me. \"He\u2019s got exceptional technique. A mastery of the ball that is better than most people. So that, in itself, gives you a really good chance because technically, you\u2019re more advanced than many of the players.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bruce Arena, the former U.S. men's national team coach who coached Bajraktarevi\u0107 while with the Revolution, remembers having a similar gut feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"He caught our attention by the quality that he demonstrated,\" Arena told me. \"He\u2019s technically good, good at passing the ball, he can take players on and shoot well from distance. \u2026 I think there\u2019s a lot ahead for him.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 developed and improved over the course of five years within the Revs' system. In fact, he was so impactful that somewhere along the way, teammates started calling him the \"Milwaukee Messi.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>The nickname became popular, mostly in the media, and was referenced when he made the critical penalty against Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"I mean, [Messi] is one of the greatest of all time,\" Bajraktarevi\u0107 said with\u00a0a chuckle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>He\u2019ll never forget the one time he shared a field with World Cup-winning Argentina superstar. On Oct. 19, 2024, the Revs visited Messi and Inter Miami. Coming on as a second-half sub, Messi promptly scored a hat trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"He walked by me, and I was looking at him,\" Bajraktarevi\u0107 recalled. \"It was surreal.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>But Bajraktarevi\u0107 was just fine making a name for himself. He made 45 appearances in MLS, including 28 starts with three goals and three assists across the 2022-24 seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"I was playing with men at 16, 17 years old, so it was really a good opportunity for me just to mature and get better,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 eventually transferred to PSV in Jan. 2025 and has helped the Dutch club win two Eredivisie championships. He\u2019s made 38 appearances and scored seven goals and added five assists across all competitions. And ever since he nailed that fearless penalty against Italy, his name has circulated around the transfer rumor mill.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>The latest gossip is that Premier League club Everton is interested, and it\u2019s possible that if Bajraktarevi\u0107 has an impressive summer at his first World Cup, more big European clubs will come knocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 earned his first cap for Bosnia on Sept. 7, 2024, recording an assist on a Dzeko goal during a UEFA Nations League match against the Netherlands \u2014 ironically at Philips Stadium in Eindhoven where he plays regularly for PSV. He was subbed on in the 68th minute and helped set up the goal in the 73rd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"I was warming up, and they waved me over, and I was like, [Oh my god], you know what I mean?\" Bajraktarevi\u0107 said. \"Then I just remembered the first time I got the ball, I didn\u2019t want to just pass it back or play it safe. I knew I wanted to take a risk because we were losing the game. I went in and wanted to make a difference.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Bajraktarevi\u0107 has been making a difference for Bosnia and Herzegovina ever since \u2014 he\u2019s made 14 international appearances and was confirmed as part of the World Cup squad on May 11 \u2014 and is excited about what kinds of things his team might accomplish this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"He\u2019s one of those players that has the ability to change the game because of that exceptional technical quality that he has,\" Onalfo said. \"He\u2019s a dynamic, fun player to watch because he\u2019s got great skills, and he can make great little passes, and he can also beat you one-v-one, and he\u2019s very good in front of the goal.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>It\u2019s been close to two years now, but the choice to officially change national team affiliations from the U.S. to Bosnia and Herzegovina was tough for Bajraktarevi\u0107. It wasn\u2019t a total shock to those who know him well, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"I wasn\u2019t surprised,\" Onalfo said. \"I think he felt like he had maybe more of a real clear path playing for that team, and he chose it. It\u2019s dear to his heart. He was born here, but he\u2019s very European.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Neither Onalfo nor Arena could confidently say whether they thought Bajraktarevi\u0107 would have had a shot at making the USA's 26-man World Cup roster. He only had one camp under Pochettino. But it doesn\u2019t matter. Bajraktarevi\u0107 became an immediate Bosnian star and is viewed as the future of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>Soon, he\u2019ll have a chance to make more history. Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s opening match is against Canada in Toronto on June 12. Bajraktarevi\u0107\u2019s family is planning to be there. The team then arrives in the U.S. for the match against Switzerland on June 18 in Los Angeles, followed by a trip to Seattle on June 24 for the group stage closer against Qatar.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"He\u2019s an American kid with Bosnian parents, and he basically helped bring his team to a World Cup that\u2019s happening in the United States,\" Onalfo said. \"I mean, it\u2019s pretty awesome. I\u2019m really proud and happy for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-ace7f8b6>\"He\u2019s living his dream.\"<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Before he became a hero for an unlikely World Cup team that knocked out a historic powerhouse, Esmir Bajraktarevi\u0107 was a kid from a small Midwestern town. Bajraktarevi\u0107, who picked up the nickname &#8220;Milwaukee Messi&#8221; along his journey, etched his name in lore back in March for Bosnia and Herzegovina by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}