ASMIR BEGOVIC remembers the stories of bullets flying past innocent people.
He remembers being torn away from his homeland by his fleeing family to an unknown world where he had no friends.
He remembers the destruction brought on Bosnia during a war that saw over 100,000 killed.
That is why he is now rebuilding those areas for children to play sport in a safe haven far from the battle-savaged country he left behind.
Bournemouth keeper Begovic, 30, fled Trebinje with his family when he was four and they settled in Heilbronn, Germany.
His dad, Amir, was a goalkeeper who had played in Yugoslavia’s second tier but was forced to look for work as a plasterer.
Mum Ajnija was about to qualify as a lawyer when she started a new job in a factory that made plastic bags.
Football was always part of his upbringing, though, and it brought him comfort and a reliable presence in an ever-changing childhood.
Former Chelsea star Begovic said: “Sport was the biggest thing for me. All throughout the tough times I had, the changes, the uprooting, the one constant was football.
“That’s how I made my friends and found my happiness.
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“It was a difficult time for everyone, my family particularly, having to change their whole lives, uproot and rebuild their lives in different countries.
“The conflict split up our family. Some went to Germany, Norway, Holland, it just depended whoever would take you in.
“We’re stronger now as a family because of it. Now I’ve got two children I can understand the magnitude of what my parents had to do.
“Doing what we do now puts football and life into perspective. It’s grounding and humbling.”
The biggest project Begovic’s foundation has undertaken so far has been the construction of a football pitch and basketball and tennis courts in Srebrenica.
That was the site of the slaughter of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslims by Bosniak Serbs in July 1995.
It was the biggest act of genocide recorded in Europe since World War II.
Now that area of mass suffering has become a symbol for the future because of Begovic and the work he has done since 2013.
He said: “Every town has its own story.
“You learn even more about what happened there and what is going on now.
“Srebrenica was a great project for us and probably the biggest one so far. We try to make the biggest difference we can.”
Begovic does admit one area he would love to see things remain the same, though.
He added: “I’m doing my first ever goalkeeper camp in Bosnia this summer.
“Of course I want goalkeepers! I encourage that. It’s a difficult position and hopefully we can encourage the next generation to come through.”
Asmir Begovic was talking at the Asmir Begovic Foundation Golf Classic sponsored by Gatorade – the sports fuel drink for performance athletes
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