“I'm going to try to make him even more proud of where he is”: MHSC defender Becir Omeragic's confessions before OM

“After this difficult period, I needed football to take my mind off things,” says the 22-year-old Swiss. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

The loss of his father, the complicated situation of the MHSC and his increasingly asserted status: before the reception of OM, Sunday October 20 (8:45 p.m.), the Swiss defender Becir Omeragic confided.

Freed from his knee problems, Becir Omeragic has only one desire: to play. Since the death of his father in mid-September, the Swiss defender needs it even more. To “think about something else”, he says. At 22, he wants to use this ordeal, which he recounts with modesty, to “make proud” Nezdad. The Swiss international also does not lose sight of the difficult season of Montpellier HSC where he has become indispensable in just one year.

During this break, you had to stay in Montpellier to treat your knee. Did you need this rest, after the complicated period you experienced at the start of the season, with the death of your father ?

After this difficult period, I needed football to take my mind off things. Being with my friends here, talking a bit about other things, even if it's a complicated period, it helped me. For me, being in the group, playing, it's like rest for my head.

It was already difficult before his death. For several weeks, several months, I was there without being there too much.

Your dad, Nezdad, died on September 15th. Six days later, you were on the field against Auxerre. It was in this logic, this need to think about something else?

Clearly. It was already difficult before his death. For several weeks, several months, I was there without being there too much. It helped me to think about something else after his death, unfortunately.

It was you who insisted on playing again?

Yes, I spoke with the coach (Michel Der Zakarian), he asked me how I felt. He didn't put any pressure on me, but I felt better like that, so I played.

When you arrived in Montpellier, in the summer of 2023, you told us about your dad, the role model he had been for you, especially in his way of playing with his head held high. By playing despite everything, it is also a form of homage that you pay him?

Of course, I know he was proud of me. He wanted me to continue like this, to continue above all to have fun, to never give up. I will try to make him even more proud of where he is.

When I was little, my brothers and I would often go watch his matches. That's how I learned football. He made me want to play, explained the values ​​of football, how you have to be, how you have to behave towards others. I can never thank my father enough for that.

Giving 100%, that's what he expected, what he liked to see. I try to do what he wanted of me.

Has this loss ever changed your outlook on life, on your job as a footballer ?

We tell ourselves that we only have one life, that we have to enjoy it, that we have to do what is necessary. We have to seize every opportunity and make the people we love proud. On this aspect, more family-related, it made me think a lot.

Now, I am happy and content with every moment that I can spend. Sometimes, there are days when you are less well, but giving 100% is what he expected, what he liked to see. I try to do what he wanted of me.

His future: “Leaving this summer would have been too early”

&At 22, Becir Omeragic is one of the MHSC players closely monitored by different teams. However, a departure from La Paillade was not on the agenda this summer, he says. “No, it was clear to me. “When I arrived at Montpellier (in June 2023), I wanted to give myself a season to adapt and then try to get into the team. Leaving this summer would have been too early”, thinks the defender. Without denying approaches. “I heard some things. But that wasn't my goal. I had already had this unfortunate experience in Zurich. I had to leave, I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I got injured. So everything was very clear. I wanted to stay here.” “Here is the perfect place to learn and continue”, he adds.

The team's situation is not obvious either. How do you analyse it??

We were perhaps not ready to face this start of the season. When we were supposed to be there, we did not respond. But since the Auxerre match (3-2), I feel that it is positive. Whether it is this week of truce or even before, against Monaco (2-1). Even though in Reims (4-2), it was complicated in every way, I have the feeling that we have really started to get into this championship.

These next matches are going to be decisive. The qualities in the team, I have always said, we have them. We just have to find ourselves. And be positive, encourage each other. For several weeks, that has been the case.

You don't just have to talk in life. You also have to show on the pitch.

You've talked a lot in recent weeks between players?

Talk, of course. Afterwards, you don't just have to talk in life. You also have to show on the pitch. We needed to tell each other things clearly. And it's going in the right direction.

The last time you met Elye Wahi, on May 20 (2-2), he was playing in Lens and you were captain for the first time with Montpellier at kickoff. You will find him in the OM jersey on Sunday. But you, do you feel like you have changed status??

I have remained the same. I always try to help the team, to contribute as much as possible to communication on the field. Afterwards, we are lucky to have a lot of people who speak before matches.

The fact that you are spoken about as one of the executives is still a change.

It is flattering to be mentioned alongside big names that I watched on TV a few years ago, like Téji (Savanier). For me, it represents a little more responsibility towards young people, for example, to show them the right path, how to make an impact when necessary, say things, set the tone too. I was lucky, in my third year in Zurich, to be among the executives at 19. That gave me experience for now.

You don't have to wait until the 20th or 25th day to take points, don't always think that it's going to happen, that it's going to come.

The coach reshuffled the cards in the locker room. Did that shake up the team, as we thought it would in Monaco ?

Not shaken up, no. I think that the week before going to Monaco, like before Auxerre, it was all about training. You didn't know who was going to play, how we were going to play. When you don't know, you maybe give more. It motivated the team.

Can the club's 50th anniversary celebrations provide additional motivation ?

Of course. It's still a historic date for the club, we have to do it justice. Even if it's difficult, we have to fight, especially when we see the players who came before us, those who were champions in 2012 for example.

You played to stay up with Zurich. Does that help you take a step back??

In Zurich, during my three seasons, I won the title but also fought for the team's survival twice. We always saved ourselves. But you shouldn't wait until the 20th or 25th matchday to take points, don't always think that it's going to happen, that it's going to come. It's now.

Before the Euro, “I asked myself a thousand questions”

This Sunday, Becir Omeragic will come up against his compatriot Ulisses Garcia at La Mosson. Like the Marseillais and three other partners, the MHSC defender was left out of the Swiss selection for the Euro on May 30, after having started preparation.
“I know that I gave everything at the club to be there. The coach had to take 23 players, I was maybe the 24th, the 25th. I take it rather positively, I know that I am not far away”, he believes. During the recent international break, Omeragic (7 caps) had been called up to the Nati before his knee kept him out. He has not forgotten, however, the moment when Murat Yakin broke the news to him before the Euro. “It was in the morning, after breakfast”, he recalls. “The first two days, I asked myself a thousand questions. Why me ? What did I do wrong ?”. “But what I appreciated was that he was honest with me, adds the 22-year-old player. He told me repeatedly to hang in there and that it would come.” Launched in the A team at 18, Omeragic returned to the Nati in September, for a start against Spain (1-4). “I hope to relive many moments like that. “I will do everything to achieve it,” he says, “the 2026 World Cup is my goal.”.