Despite being constantly met with prejudice regarding her sport, the passion for soccer has always been there for Zećira Mušović. As the goaltender for FC Rosengård and an economy student she wants to be a good role model for her sport.
The day after FC Rosengård played a Champions League match in Finland, 19 year old goaltender Zećira Mušović tries to make it to her seminar at the School of Economics and Management in Lund. After a plane ride, taxi and a car ride she finally manages to get there, with a one minute margin. She tries to discreetly take a seat in the classroom.
“Then I hear my lecturer say ‘Isn’t that the soccer girl?’ and make people start applauding”
Today Zećira Mušović laughs at the episode, but at that time she was slightly embarrassed. She wants to be the economy student at university, not the goaltender. Because even though many things in her life revolve around making it to soccer training and lectures, and there is not much free time in between, she wants to work equally hard on both of her careers. She has always put high value on school. Despite it being both hard and stressful at times. And sure, the passion for soccer may be a bit closer to her heart.
“Considering that I am sometimes forced to leave a lecture early due to practice I define myself as a soccer player first and foremost”.
Even as a child Zećira Mušović loved sports, and the particular interest for soccer was awakened after a school tournament in middle school. After a coach asked if she wanted to attend a trial practice she decided to join. Since then she has been hooked. But it has not always been easy. Just like her teammates and other players of women’s soccer she has been struggling with the prejudices that exist for women within the soccer world.
Even though she has not personally been met with any mean prejudices, she remembers from her childhood that soccer was not taken seriously.
“Are you really going to play soccer, as a girl?” was something she often heard from relatives.
“They didn’t understand that it was something I worked hard on and something I wanted to work with in the future”, she says.
But Zećira Mušović did not allow herself to be affected, and instead turned the criticism into something positive. By fighting harder, and showing that soccer was not just a male sport, she managed to affect her surroundings instead. Today, she has made soccer her full-time job.
“Now my whole family is involved, which really is fun”.
And women’s soccer continues to reach new successes. Recently, 13 of Malmö’s biggest companies contributed with 21 million SEK in sponsor revenues distributed over a period of three years. According to Zećira Mušović, this is a step in the right direction. Because women’s soccer is still less valued than men’s soccer, and a player of the men’s national team currently earn a lot more money. Despite this fact, Zećira Mušović is optimistic and sees great opportunities within women’s soccer, especially now – with companies sponsoring her team.
“The thought counts more than the amount of money, in my opinion. It shows that they value women’s soccer and that it’s something worth investing in”.
Even if discussions about prejudice towards women’s soccer can often be tiring, and Zećira Mušović sometimes wishes that she was not a part of the debate, it is at the same time unavoidable. As a professional player she becomes involved whether she wants to or not. At the same time, she feels a responsibility towards the younger players, whom she is also a role model for. Therefore, Zećira Mušović tries to project a clear picture of her goals, but most importantly: to just be yourself.
More than being a role model, a bright future is predicted for Zećira Mušović, who has two SM gold medals with FC Rosengård, had matches with the national team at a young age, as well as a spot on the UEFA team from last year in her luggage. She describes her career as “pretty decent in retrospect”. Why she became a goaltender, she is not sure.
But, what she likes about being a goaltender is that her winner’s instinct has the most crucial role. She describes the position as a contrast between to polar opposites.
“Being the one on the team who is either great or a catastrophe because of a crappy goal I let happen. That is the contrast that motivates me”.
But being a goaltender also means that Zećira Mušović is in a vulnerable position. Being young in that position is rough. A goaltender often reaches their highest level when they are 28-30 years old, which means that investments are often made on older goaltenders. As a young goaltender, Zećira Mušović is a bit more unusual, and she wishes that it was different.
“If it comes down to the last spots on a team I think it’s better to put your faith in someone younger”.
It is hard to be a goaltender, but that does not stop her from having goals set high, and when she talks about her ambitions she is clear about what she wants with soccer.
“My answer when people ask what my career goal is, is that I want to be the best. I think it’s important to have that inclination”.
Despite high ambitions it was not enough when she last year was met with the tough notice that she had been left out of the national team for the World Cup in Canada. The same summer, she got to see her friends in the F19 national team take a gold medal in the European Championships, while she was in Sweden.
Personally, she thinks she should have been on the World Cup team. But only a couple of months after Sweden’s exodus of the World Cup in Canada, she learned that she had been selected to participate in a practice match with A-landslaget.
And for a young goaltender there are more chances to be had. Next for Zećira Mušović is a U20 World Cup in Papua New Guinea. A country that is completely unknown to Zećira Mušović and will make for an exciting challenge. Another clear goal is Brazil.
This summer, the Olympic Games take place in Rio, and she hopes she makes the team. She also hopes for that call from coach Pia Sundhage regarding a spot on the Olympic team this summer. Maybe it is the 19 year old economy student who will play that crucial role during the playoffs this summer.
Article: Beri Zangana
Translation: Elise Petersson
