On the latest episode of the We Are Chelsea podcast, goalkeeper Zecira Musovic explains why she felt leaving Sweden to join the Blues would push her game to the next level.

The Swedish international joined the Blues from FC Rosengard in her homeland, having previously played for Stattena IF, which is where she made her senior debut in Division 2 as a teenager.

At only 16 years old, she would move to Rosengard – then called Malmo – and would go on to win four Swedish league titles and the Swedish Cup three times before moving to London in January 2021.

It was a difficult decision to leave her homeland, Musovic admits to host Caz De Moraes on the episode, but one she felt she had to make to better her career.

When asked if she ever saw herself leaving Sweden to play elsewhere, Musovic replied: ‘Not when I was younger.

‘When I got the question, I was thinking I want to play in a team where I can have the best facilities and conditions to become the very best.

‘Back then, the Swedish league was very, very good and one of the best leagues in the world. I was playing at a club where I was 40 minutes from my family and living my best life. I thought I would stay and play in Sweden for the rest of my life.

‘As the years went by, the WSL was getting better, European football was getting better and I thought maybe I’m done in Sweden [when it came to] my development. I’d reached my limit and I needed to test myself and go out of my comfort zone and find new levels within my game. That’s when I started to look outside Sweden and Chelsea came.

‘We often talk about sacrifices in our careers and missing out on parties and seeing friends, but moving to Chelsea is one of the biggest sacrifices I’ve been pushed to make – to leave my family and the closeness with them.’

Goalkeeping is a mental game

In the episode, Musovic, who first started playing football as a youngster as the ‘tall girl in midfield’, also details how being a goalkeeper differs from other areas on the pitch.

‘It is the position on the pitch that is really black and white,’ explained Musovic. ‘You either made a good game or destroy the game – and not by playing bad the whole game, but just by one specific moment.

‘That pressure is something triggered in me all the time to want to become better and improve my game. Also as a person, I like being in the pressured moments and needing to step up in the big moments.

‘The mental aspect of the goalkeeping position is 80 per cent of it and for the most part it’s actually played in your own head. It’s an individual sport in a team sport. You have to be strong, have belief in yourself and you have to be able to cope with your own mind.’

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