Born in Bosnia-Herzegovina to Bosnian Serb parents in 1989, Marin – a Europa League winner with Chelsea (2013) and Sevilla (2014) moved to Germany at the age of two and 16 international caps for his new country followed.
Marin waited for calls from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia but they were not forthcoming as he opted for Germany – he was rewarded with a spot in Joachim Low s 2010 World Cup squad after impressing for Bremen.
While he represented Die Mannschaft, Marin s love for Serbian powerhouse Red Star – who snapped a 26-year drought from Europe s premier club competition last term – runs deep and a second successive season of Champions League football means a lot to the club captain.
It s different because you play with more passion for the club, Marin said when asked about the satisfaction of qualifying. You always give everything for the club you represent because it s your job and love football. But it s different if you play for the club you really loved as a kid.
We have many players in the team like this. The foreign players maybe give us more quality but the main group of the team and the strength – when you grow up as a Red Star fan, many of them trained in the youth team. It s a bit different to play Champions League for Chelsea or Werder Bremen for example.
After every game, Belgrade and Serbia is so happy and even kids outside of the country, he said. I grew up in Germany and I was a fan of Red Star and when I went with my friends to school, you would always talk and I said that I m a Red Star fan but they didn t really know. But now, Red Star are playing in the biggest competition in Europe. You make Red Star big again. They re getting used to it. This is a motivation.
For sure this season, we will make some good games. Even qualifying for the group stage is a big, big success. If you compare with Manchester City, Barcelona or Real Madrid, their aim is to win the Champions League ours is to qualify first.
Marin arrived at Red Star from Greek giants Olympiacos prior to the side s 2018-19 Champions League group-stage campaign involving eventual champions Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli.
One of the game s most promising talents a decade ago, Marin s switch from Piraeus to Belgrade last year barely made the news outside of Serbia. What could have been is a question often asked about the Bosnian-born German. But what does he think about his career?