Behrang Safari, 41, has played several important matches in his career.
But he has had the toughest fight at home.
– The boys saved me, says Safari in his summer talk.
When the former national team defender Behrang Safari had his twin boys Emiliano and Leon, he started to paint dream pictures in his head. They would play football together in the garden, visit stadiums and the children would be proud of their professional football father.
Then the boys were diagnosed with autism and Safari’s mental images became blurred, he says in his summer talk.
– My sons will never realize their father’s greatness. I will not be their hero. Me, me, me. The only person I thought about when they received their diagnosis was myself, says Safari.
“They saved me”
After the children received their diagnoses, the family moved home to Sweden from Switzerland, where Behrang Safari played for FC Basel. In the summer talk, the 41-year-old says that with the move he became bitter and felt sorry for himself.
– Until the boys saved me.
In the sons, Safari has found a new driving force, he says.
– They have taught me that it will be what it will be and we try to make something good out of every day, without it necessarily leading to anything other than them having to manage without me.
“My Superheroes”
– In all places and in all contexts I’ve been, I’ve had a feeling of not being enough, but with mine boys is it something else. It’s the only place where I feel adequate, I want to give them everything. My sons have given me the present, they have given me context.
At the end of the summer talk, Safari turns directly to the sons:
– You are my superheroes.
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