Plymouth Argyle's head coach Miron Muslic achieved what many considered impossible on Sunday, leading his Championship strugglers to a stunning FA Cup victory over Premier League leaders Liverpool. The historic win at Home Park came through Ryan Hardie's decisive penalty, marking a remarkable chapter in the club's history.
"It is a magical day for us. I told the lads to enjoy it, and we are now part of Argyle history," said an emotional Muslic. "I am speechless. Normally, they tell me I'm eloquent. It is a proud moment. It is a big day."
Yet for Muslic, this triumph pales in comparison to the challenges he faced in his early life. In 1992, at just nine years old, he and his family were forced to flee their hometown of Bihac, Bosnia, just months before it fell under a three-year siege by Serb-led forces during the civil war.
"We had to leave Bosnia, and Bihac, our hometown, literally overnight, grabbing things you can grab with your hands," Muslic recounted to BBC Sport. "That's where our journey, or our new life, started."
The family's 400-mile journey led them to Innsbruck, Austria, where they faced the challenges of building a new life without speaking the local German dialect. His parents worked tirelessly - his father as a waiter for over 30 years and his mother as a cleaning lady - to provide for their children.
"We struggled our whole life, and this part of struggling is part of my journey, and that's why I'm always very optimistic and very positive," explains Muslic, who previously guided Cercle Bruges to the UEFA Europa Conference League. "I've been in more challenging situations in my life than being a head coach and facing a possible draw or a defeat at the weekend."
Football became Muslic's universal language and path to integration. As a teenage forward at Wacker Innsbruck, he began a career that would span Austria's top five tiers and include a brief spell in Croatia. His journey from a refugee who couldn't speak the language to a coach whose rousing first speech to Argyle's players has garnered nearly four million views on social media exemplifies his remarkable transformation.
Since taking over from Wayne Rooney last month, Muslic has already shown signs of turning Argyle's fortunes around. Despite losing key players during the transfer window, the team recently secured their first league win in 15 games against West Bromwich Albion and made a club-record signing in Ukrainian defender Maksym Talovierov.
For Muslic, football transcends cultural barriers: "When you're on a football pitch or somewhere on the street, it's not about your name, your last name, it's not even about your refugee status or not; it's only about the game. Where religion, nationality, is my mother a cleaning lady or a lawyer has no impact, has no influence."
Looking at his diverse Plymouth Argyle squad, Muslic draws a powerful parallel to his vision of global unity: "If I look to the locker room of Argyle, they are just lads from all over the world, and it works. So imagine the world as a locker room; it would be a good place to be."
