Esmir Bajraktarević held his jersey up to the celebrating fans in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, his face steeled even in the midst of the madness around him.When he first turned professional as a teenager with the New England Revolution, the Appleton, Wisc., born-and-raised winger had his first name on the back of his jersey. A conversation with his father changed that.“Every time I play I represent my family,” he said in an interview with The Athletic this spring.So when he buried the penalty kick that sent Bosnia to the World Cup, he took off his shirt, turned it around and held up his name for everyone to see.For the son of Bosnian refugees from Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed in July 1995 in what the International Court of Justice formally ruled a genocide, lifting his jersey up wasn’t just about celebrating Bosnia. Four of Bajraktarević’s uncles and his paternal grandfather were killed in Srebrenica. His parents, Elmir and Emina, escaped, eventually settling in Switzerland and then Wisconsin.“Srebrenica is something I will never forget,” Bajraktarević told The Blazing Musket in 2024. “It’s a part of me and who I am. I carry it in my blood.”Was there a reason behind Poch’s defensive press conference?Tom BogertSo on the night he sent Bosnia to the World Cup, he was holding up the memories of his family, and the journey of his surname.“There was a plan for this boy never to be born, for my own children never to be born, for any of our children never to be born,” Emir Suljagić, head of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, posted on social media that night. “Their laughter is our greatest revenge.”On Wednesday night in Santa Clara, Calif., Bajraktarević will carry that heritage with him onto the field in a World Cup knockout game against the United States. He appeared once for the U.S. men’s national team, in a friendly against Slovenia in January 2024, before switching his international allegiance. Now, he will have the unique chance to push Bosnia deeper into the knockout stage — and to knock out his birth country in the round of 32 in the process.It will be another remarkable moment in the 21-year-old’s young career.“You live for these moments,” Bajraktarević said last month, when asked how he prepares for the biggest games. “These are things that I’ve dreamed of since I was young.”Bajraktarevic’s penalty kick knocked out Italy and sent his country to this summer’s World Cup. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP / Getty Images)The makings of ‘Milwaukee Messi’Bajraktarević grew up in Appleton, where his parents worked in factories and soccer remained at the center of everything he did. His brother and sister played soccer, too, and his dad coached.“It’s all I’ve ever really known,” he said.In the house, he ate Bosnian food like ćevape and spoke Bosnian with his parents. Outside of the house, he had what he called a more American experience. From a young age, Bajraktarević stood out on the local teams in northern Wisconsin. So at age 13, he moved to a club, SC Wave, in Milwaukee. Three years later, he moved to Massachusetts to join the academy of MLS’s New England Revolution, where he was one of the first young players to board and train with their youth side.