Miralem Pjanic - The fall from grace of Bosnia's 2020 Sportsman of the Year

In 2019, Miralem Pjanic was 50th on the Guardian's list of "The 100 best male footballers in the world". Ahead of Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Sergio Busquets and more.

He even went on to become Bosnian Sportsman of the year in 2020. In June of 2020, the midfielder moved to Barcelona from Juventus as a result of a swap-deal involving him and Arthur Melo. Since then, Pjanic has gone on one downward spiral after another.

On Saturday, Bosnia and Herzegovina were knocked out of UEFA World Cup qualifying after a 1-3 loss against Finland. Miralem Pjanic conceded a penalty early on in the 25th minute when he handed the ball in the box, but the keeper saved it.

During the game, the fans went as far as to even whistle him off the pitch, indicating their displeasure with his performance. That in itself is not that uncommon in football. Good players are expected to always give good games, and a single bad game will be enough to invoke the ire of the fans.

But now, photos and videos of Miralem Pjanic at a club and smoking hookah on the night before the game have surfaced. It has further angered the national fans of Bosnia.

After qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, this will be the second World Cup in a row the Bosnian team will be missing.

As for the Euros, Bosnia has not qualified since 2000, when they became Bosnia and Herzegovina. And to have their best player guilty of such behavior on the night before their most important game of the last eight years is simply unacceptable.

But this is not the first time this has happened in Bosnia.

In 2014, before a game between Inter Milan and Lazio, the tunnel mics picked up something. The respective team captains, Samir Handanovic and Senad Lulic - who had just retired from their national teams in Slovenia and Bosnia - were talking about the international break.

And over the course of that, Lulic could be heard saying:

"With us, the national team is like coming for a break. You eat cakes, family, gifts ... then the games go and you're dead there. That's how it was with us."

Still, for someone nicknamed "the little prince" for his exploits in Rome, this is hard to fathom.

Miralem Pjanic - Doom beginning with the transfer to Barcelona

Cornella v FC Barcelona - Copa del Rey

Before the move to Barcelona, the Bosnian was part of the Serie A team of the season for four consecutive years - one at Roma and three at Juventus. He was in the UEFA Champions League team of the season when Juventus reached the final.

Despite arriving at the club as a world-class proven player, he played only 30 matches across all competitions for the Catalan club. Pjanic started only 6 games in the league and made 13 substitute appearances in La Liga. In the Champions League, he played 8 games - 2 of them as a substitute.

The following year, after a change in management, Barcelona loaned him out to Besiktas. A player coming in at a cost of €60m, and then leaving the very next year without any goals or assists to his name for 1/20th of that price - you don't see that often.

Now, with Pjanic's national team career in shambles, this has been an unexpected downward spiral. Sure, this has happened to footballers before but it usually takes time. It takes years to happen and then there is a very gradual drop where year after year, the fans can confirm that age is catching up with their players.

Miralem Pjanic's fall from grace happened quite quickly. He went from being in the team of the tournament and one of the most renowned footballers in the world to just being a passenger in the team almost in the blink of an eye.

At 31 years of age, Pjanic is not yet the retiring age for most footballers. He is bound to play a minimum of 3 years. But when he comes back to Barcelona after the end of his loan, his attitude will decide where he plays the rest of his career.

His footballing passing ability is one of the best in history, and in Xavi, Pjanic has a manager who can hone that skill. But if he keeps on in the same way that he does with the national team, not even Xavi can save Pjanic from himself.