Asmir's Adventures

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Asmir Begovic. I played youth soccer in Edmonton, Alberta. Even though I have grown a little since my Edmonton Minor soccer days, I still remember them. It wasn't too long ago that I was running around at the Edmonton Soccer Complex. It is funny how quickly things change, I just turned 19 years old on June 20, 2006 and am up to 6'5 ft. tall. In the last years I have played Goalkeeper for the Canadian Men's National Team, the Men's Olympic U-23 Team and the Men's U-20 Team. I spent last year playing professionally in Belgium and am now currently battling for a spot on Portsmouth FC who currently play in England's Premier Division.

June 2007

Hello everybody, hope everyone is good. I am in Nottawasaga now starting the final preparations for the tournament, which is getting ever so close now. We've had some tough games leading up so far and they have definitely done there job in getting us prepared. We had a great game against Argentina which we lost 2:1. But it was a lot of fun to play in that game being our first game at the new stadium and the great atmosphere. Then we moved on to Ottawa and had a game against the US. We lost that game 4:1. That result hurt a lot to be honest because it wasn’t a 4 1 game and just because it was never nice to get beat like that. And then 4 days later we moved on to another game against the US in Kingston. We watched the tape from the previous game, made the right adjustments and came out with a lot more energy and it paid off because we had a great result winning 4:0, which was great for the teams confidence.

Our latest international match was against the Czech Republic in Edmonton. I really looked forward to that game because it was in my hometown and it's always fun to play at home. That game ended 0:0 but had to be called off early because of terrible weather. There was lightning around the stadium and loads of rain which waterlogged the pitch so we were unable to continue.

But all in all we had a good game to get us prepared. We learned from the things we didn’t do well and also tried building on the things we did do well, so now we need to try and get it together for the tournament. It's funny to see now with the team because we've been together for a long time, guys are spending their free time, I have to say a lot of T.V. series' have been watched, one of the favorites is 24, most of the guys seem to like it.

Everybody on the team is getting really excited now and hopefully so is everybody else in the country. We are really counting on your support and hope you guys come out and catch some of the great action. Hope you guys enjoy the Tournament! Check in with you guys again soon. Bye for now,

Take care,

Asmir

May 2007

Hello everyone once again. Everything is good in Portsmouth and this last month has been busy with plenty of games. I have played the last 5 reserve matches which was great for me to get back into the swing of things and get ready for the summer. The results have not been the best because we played a lot of younger lads but the results weren't the most important thing, the games were important to getting sharp. We are still pushing for Europe this season and if results go our way we will have a good shot, but we definitely have 2 tough games against Everton and Arsenal. But no matter what happens, this has been a great year for all the players and the club finishing so high up in the league.

I am traveling to Toronto in the next few days, to prepare for the Argentina game. We are all excited about things and we can't wait for preparations to start. The game also being played at BMO Field will be awesome and the atmosphere should be great and hopefully everyone will get behind us. We have announced another few games leading into the tournament which will all be great tests for us, and will definitely have us ready for the tournament. I am particularly excited for the game in Edmonton versus the Czech Republic on June 18th and the Team Canada Pep Rally at Churchill Square on June 15th.

I think all the Canadian people will be in for a treat this summer and you should all snap up your tickets! If you have any comments or questions let me know at asmiru20@hotmail.com. Check in with you guys again next month.

Later,

Asmir

April 2007

Hello everyone once again! Things are going well here in Portsmouth, I am back fit and training, so that’s pleasing. It’s been a long month because I picked up a slight knee injury which kept me out of training for 2 weeks and also many players were away for the international break so there were not many people around and things kind of came to a stand still. But things have picked up again and it’s going to be a busy last month of the season, with a lot of games and a lot of excitement. We have some important games left and hopefully we can push on and possibly get into Europe.

I was disappointed about my injury and not being able to play against Scotland, but I'm back fit again and have to look to the big picture, which is the World Cup. The boys did well getting the win against Scotland, which will give more confidence to the team. The second game was tight but we gave the Scots a good game and hopefully we can take some more positives from that. We also have to look at the things we did wrong and correct them before the opening game against Chile (July 1, 2007 in Toronto). We have a game against Argentina coming up on May 11, 2007 which should be a good test and also a bonus of being able to play in the new stadium in Toronto. I have spoken to a few of the guys and were all looking forward to the preparations and the tournament.

Also the Champions League is heating up and the games have all been very interesting. My pick is for Bayern Munich (update: have since lost to AC Milan in the Quarter-finals) to win it because they are playing great and have the experience to get results away from home. If you guys have any comments and questions feel free to email me at asmiru20@hotmail.com. Check in with you guys again next month. Later

Asmir

March 2007

Hello everyone once again. Hope you are all doing well. I am doing fine, I am currently in Dubai with the Portsmouth team on a week long training camp and it’s been amazing so far. My injury has healed up well and I am fully fit once again, I had my first 90 minutes last week which was great, and training is also getting my knee stronger and stronger. We haven’t been doing particularly well in recent games here in England (Portsmouth) but hopefully we can turn things around and have a great finish to the season because there are some great games to look forward to. I have been traveling and training with the first team quite a bit recently, a great experience for the future.

I think everyone has seen the draw for the World Cup, and most people, I think, are pleased with the draw. It's by no means an easy group but if we live up to our potential we have a great chance of going through. Chile will be a very tough opening game and I am sure they will be as fired up for the game as we will. If we get off to a good start in that game we will be set up for a good run in the group games. Once we get to Edmonton it won't get any easier as we play Congo who finished first in their qualifying and Austria who will be tough as every team from Europe is. So it’s a very interesting draw I think every city will get to see some great action, how about the USA v. Brazil game, or Spain v. Uruguay, those should be great to see, so a very interesting draw overall.

We have games coming up against Scotland in BC which should give us a great test; we really want to show well because we want to measure ourselves against these teams. The two games should give us a good idea of what type of things to work on and improve. I am very excited about the games as are most of the players and it should be a lot of fun, hopefully we will get a great turn out and have a great atmosphere at the games. If anybody wants to give any feedback to me on the diary please email me at asmirU20@hotmail.com.

Take care everyone. Ciao.

Asmir

January 2007

Hello everyone, hope that everyone had a safe Christmas, and I also wish everybody a happy new year. I had a good holiday, I was able to go to Germany to see my family for a few days and then came back to England for new years which was great, one of my mates from Edmonton came to visit me for a few days so that was great. I’ve moved into my new apartment here in Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago so I feel really settled here now.

I’ve been out injured for the last 3 weeks because I had surgery on my knee. I had torn a tendon on the lateral side and would be out 6 weeks according to the surgeon and club doctors. The injury happened in a training session at Macclesfield and it was a day before a game training on Field Turf so that was really unfortunate. I have been doing rehab and I'm stepping it up so the knee is feeling better and better. The loan had been going well we won every game I played in which was really pleasing. But now I'm back in Portsmouth and once I am fit I want to battle for a spot here or maybe go on loan again, it will depend on the situation after the transfer window.

This injury unfortunately has kept me out of going to any national team camps but I hope to be with the team as soon as possible and hoping to be back involved for the Scotland series in March. The team had a disappointing result last month against the US but hopefully the guys have learned from it for the future. Its 2007 now and the tournament is approaching fast and hopefully people are picking up the vibe in Canada also. It will be interesting to see in the next couple of months which teams qualify for Canada 2007.

Well, I’m out and will check in with you guys again soon.

Asmir

December 1, 2006

Everything is going well for me in England. I have actually just gone on loan to Macclesfield Town for a month. This is good for me because I will get to play some proper first team games and also work under a great manager in Paul Ince who I'm hoping I will learn a lot from. So I will be traveling between Macclesfield and Portsmouth quite often because I will still train with Portsmouth.

Things at Portsmouth were going great for me as well; I played the last 2 reserve games against Fulham which we won 1:0 and against West Ham which we drew 1:1, so I must have been spotted in one of those games. The first team there is doing really well; they’re in 3rd place right now. Hopefully my experiences here will help me down the line to try and get into the first team in Portsmouth.

We will be busy with the Canadian U-20 team over the next few months as many things are planned. I'm hoping to be part of some of the training camps, so hopefully I will be available and the club and CSA can reach an agreement. The World Cup is inching closer and closer and more teams have qualified so things are starting to get exciting.

I've also found a flat in Portsmouth which I should be moving into early next month, so I am very pleased about that. It's starting to get cold here which I am sure it is in Canada as well, I spoke to my mate in Edmonton and he says it’s starting to get to around minus 20, so I’m glad I’m out of that for the time being….ha-ha! Hope everybody is well and will check in with you again next month.

Later,

Asmir

October 15, 2006

Hello Everybody. Things are going well over here in England. I've just got back from the Prague, Czech Republic were I was for a week with the U-20 Canadian team. We played the Czech's twice; we lost the first game 2:0 and won the second 2:1. Both goals we scored were really nice headers. It was a good trip overall because it showed us we can play with one of the best teams in the world, and gave us something to build on for up coming games. The Czech's have already qualified for the U-20 World Cup next year in Canada, so it feels really good to be able to have a good battle with them.

Everything at Portsmouth is going fine. I have just finished all my paperwork and will hopefully be able to play in the reserve game next week against Reading. I definitely need some games now to sharpen up and then maybe get a chance to go on loan to another team in England to get some first team experience. I'm also flat hunting at the moment which is going well, I would like to move into my own place soon so that I can finally get settled in a bit more. There is a really nice area right by the sea which would be a perfect location. We have a game against West Ham on Saturday which is a big game so hopefully we can get a result, and I'm sure we will with the support our home fans give us.

Take care everyone and talk to you soon.

Asmir

September 15, 2006

Hello everybody back in Canada. The season is definitely underway now. Things have been going really great for the team. We're in 2nd place at the moment so we've had a great start. I have not been involved in the first team but David James is a great goalkeeper and he's a great guy to learn from. I hope to go on loan soon because it will allow me to get some more game time experience playing in somebody's first team. I'm hoping to see my family soon; they are planning to come and visit me in England in the next couple months. This will be nice because I haven't seen them in a couple of months. At times it is tough being so far away from your friends and family but then I just remind myself that I am following my dream and that it is definitely worth it. I should also be moving into my own flat soon which will be nice.

We went to Belgium a couple of weeks ago for a 2 game series against the Belgians. We lost the first game 2:1 which was harsh because we conceded a penalty in injury time. And then we drew 1:1 in the second game which was good because we came back from a goal down showing some good character. Both of these games were a good experience for us and we definitely need more of these games to get us ready for next year's tournament. Talk to you guys again next month.

Cheers.

Asmir

August 15th, 2006

Here is a little bit on my first 5 weeks here.

I've been back for pre season now for 5 weeks here at Portsmouth. I had a great summer seeing a few friends and spending a few weeks at home with the family was awesome. As soon as I came here, I met the manager and all the players again who I haven't seen in 2 months and the work began. We started off with running straight away, so things have been tough. Even though I am a goalie, it is very important that I am very fit. We went away for a week down to Devon which was good for team bonding, and the training was also very good. We had some free time and we played tennis and bit of golf, I soon found out Golf isn't my type of game. We've also had some good tough games and the results have been good. The league starts on Saturday against Blackburn at home and everybody is looking forward to it after all of the hard work. I'm on the fringes of the first team and as soon as my papers get sorted out I hope to really be involved for the Premier League matches.

I'm off with the U-20 national team in a couple of weeks to Belgium where we have 2 friendlies. It should be nice to see the boys again after our great series with Brazil. I was so happy when we beat Brazil in Commonwealth Stadium, what a great game. Everybody is looking forward to competing for a spot on this team, so that we can be part of a great event next summer. We are trying to prepare real well because we don't want to let anybody down next summer and give it our best shot to win the tournament.

I will check in with you again next month. Later.

Asmir