Zećira Mušović
Zećira Mušović (; born 26 May 1996) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the English Women's Super League club Chelsea and for the Sweden women's national football team. Early life. Mušović's family are from Prijepolje, Serbia. Her three older siblings were born in the town but the family emigrated due to the Bosnian War. The family eventually settled in Sweden. Mušović was born in Falun and brought up in Scania. She remained proud of her Bosniak heritage and takes annual vacations to Bosnia and Herzegovina, visiting relatives and her "favourite city" Sarajevo . Club career. Mušović began playing football for Stattena IF as a nine-year-old. She spent two seasons with the club's senior women's team in Division 2 in 2011 and 2012, helping the club secure promotion in the latter campaign. She transferred from Stattena to LdB FC Malmö in October 2012. In 2013 she understudied Þóra Björg Helgadóttir, who was named Goalkeeper of the Year as Malmö secured the 2013 Damallsvenskan championship. Malmö rebranded as FC Rosengård for the 2014 Damallsvenskan and Mušović was elevated to first team contention when Helgadóttir left the club during the mid-season  break. German import Kathrin Längert then vied with Mušović for Rosengård's goalkeeper position. When Mušović secured increasing first team participation in the 2015 Damallsvenskan, the club announced they were pleased with her development and awarded a new 2.5-year contract in May 2015. Ambitious Mušović wanted to become the best goalkeeper in the world. Mušović received two setbacks ahead of the 2016 Damallsvenskan season. First Rosengård signed Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod, then Mušović broke her arm while playing for Sweden U-23s. In the event McLeod suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, so the club had to bring in veteran  Sofia Lundgren as cover. After some long conversations with Rosengård director of football Therese Sjögran, Mušović agreed to remain at the club although she was unhappy at losing her place in the team once McLeod recovered from her injured knee. Instead of making a transfer request, she resolved to improve aspects of her own game by training alongside her experienced Canadian rival. In October 2017 Mušović was given a new three-year contract by Rosengård. She declared: "FC Rosengård has always been and will always be the club in my heart". McLeod's lucrative contract was not extended, causing her  team-mate and then wife Ella Masar to quit the club in solidarity. International career. Mušović captained Sweden under-19s to the 2015 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship final stage in Israel. She was disappointed when FC Rosengård stopped her attending the tournament because they needed her for club fixtures. The disappointment was compounded when Sweden under-19s won the competition. Despite having lost her position as first choice at club level, Mušović was called up by incoming Sweden national team coach Peter Gerhardsson for the opening 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers. She attended several matches as a non-playing  substitute, then proudly won her first senior cap in March 2018, securing a debut "clean sheet" in a 3–0 win over Russia at the 2018 Algarve Cup. Mušović endured a difficult second appearance for Sweden, when she deputised for Hedvig Lindahl in a friendly against Italy in October 2018. Her handling error allowed Daniela Sabatino to score the only goal of the match. In May 2019 she was one of three goalkeepers selected by Sweden for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, alongside Lindahl and the uncapped Jennifer Falk. Personal life. Mušović in 2018 was in a relationship with  professional ice hockey player Alen Bibić. In 2018 Mušović graduated with a degree in economics from Lund University. Her older brother Huso Mušović was himself a lower division footballer. Mušović maintains a personal blog at her own website. She has firm political views and challenged two of her social media contacts over their support for the controversial Sweden Democrats party at the 2018 Swedish general election. Winner Winner Winner