Miron Muslic: Plymouth Argyle boss opens up on life as a refugee before Liverpool FA Cup tie

It is that belief and commitment that Argyle will need if they are to upset a Liverpool side who have finished top of the Champions League group stage and have a healthy six-point lead at the summit of the Premier League under Arne Slot.

Conversely, Muslic inherited an Argyle side spiralling towards League One and bottom of the Championship.

To add to his tough start, he saw his best defender, Lewis Gibson, and star forward, Morgan Whittaker, leave the club during the transfer window.

But, just like Muslic’s new life in Austria, the shoots of recovery could well be sprouting under him at Argyle.

Last Saturday, the Pilgrims paid a club record fee for Ukraine defender Maksym Talovierov and came from a goal down to beat play-off contenders West Bromwich Albion 2-1 – a victory that ended a 15-game winless run in the league.

And it is football – and a love of its ups and downs – that has driven Muslic from a child who could not speak the language to a coach so fluent in English that his rousing first speech to Argyle’s players, external has been watched by the best part of four million people on social media.

As a teenage forward, he joined Wacker Innsbruck before a career that took in the top five tiers in Austria and a short spell in Croatia.

He credits the sport with helping him adapt to his new homeland, allowing him to “have the privilege to call not only Bosnia, but also Austria, my home.”

“That’s why football is so important, because it’s universal,” he says.

“Because when you’re on a football pitch or somewhere on the street, it’s not about your name, your last name, it’s not even about your refugee status or not; it’s only about the game.

“Where religion, nationality, is my mother a cleaning lady or a lawyer has no impact, has no influence.

“That’s why we love this beautiful game, and that’s why I always call it ‘the game we love’, and that’s the magic of football.”