THE pressure of being an elite-level sporting figure on its own, of course, comes with remarkable ups and downs.

But what about when the person you are married to also has their own highs and lows competing on the global stage?

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic is the man to ask exactly what that is like, balancing his career at Cherries alongside wife Nicolle’s day job as an international dressage rider.

The couple met while Bosnian stopper Asmir was coming through the ranks at Portsmouth and now have two daughters.

Begovic’s work this week will be focused on tomorrow’s Championship play-off semi-final first leg with Brentford at Vitality Stadium (6pm).

But just like when competing with one of her dressage horses, Nicolle, of course, will be with the Cherries star every step of the way.

Asked how much having a partner as a professional athlete helped him behind the scenes, Begovic said: “It’s actually a really cool relationship we have, being two professional athletes.

“It works both ways because one is the commitment level – and appreciating the commitment level it takes for us to do what we need to do, and supporting each other and enjoying it when things go well.

“But I think we would only know sometimes even the downsides of what we do.

“I think that’s sometimes even more important, to be there for each other when maybe things aren’t quite going as well as you want them to, or things are against you a little bit.

“I think we support each other really well. We feed off each other really well and I think that’s obviously what’s made the relationship work.

“I am very proud of what she’s doing. To compete at international level in dressage is not an easy thing.

“I have been able to grow an incredible amount of respect for her sport and dealing with animals and how unpredictable that can be.

“What she is doing is great and hopefully she can achieve a lot of success in the next few years.

“We understand each other very well. Only athletes sometimes will really understand the things you go through, the ups and downs, the commitment, the sacrifices you have to make, the amount of work it takes to try to produce when you do have to compete.

“She’s my biggest fan and my biggest critic I think at the same time. The most pressure is at home, so as soon as I get outside it’s quite easy!”

Begovic has seen his illustrious career journey from winning the Premier League title at Chelsea to then returning to Cherries – a place he made some of his first league appearances at, while on loan from Pompey in 2007.

In his second spell in Dorset, the keeper was last season sent on loan to Qarabag and AC Milan, before fighting his way back to becoming first choice for this campaign.

The 33-year-old’s performances have seen him named in this year’s Championship Team of the Season, having kept 15 clean sheets in 45 league appearances.

But having seen and done almost everything in the game, Begovic is still excited about his latest challenge with Cherries.

“These are the sort of games where I want to keep playing,” he said, ahead of the play-off semi-finals.

“You want to keep playing week in, week out and every game is important.

“The next game is always the most important but big occasions are why we play this game, you know? We want to be involved in these semi-finals, finals, competing for something that matters.

“Promotion is a huge deal. It still excites me. It still makes me wants to be part of the game and be involved in as many of these games as I possibly can.

“It’s been a couple of years and I have had some amazing experiences. This could be another one, of course.

“At the beginning of the season, you never quite know. Are you in the plans? Are you not in the plans?

“The situation became a little bit more clear that I was going to be here. I bought into it right away. We knew the end goal was promotion and I thought it was really exciting.

“It’s a really good group of lads here, so for me it was nice to be back involved, get my head around being here and enjoying the process.

“I am really enjoying the whole season so far and hopefully we can cap it off in the right way and make it even more enjoyable.”

Begovic has twice been in goal when Cherries have suffered defeats to Brentford in league action this season.

But the former Stoke stopper insists anyone the club had played in the play-offs would have provided a tough test.

“We know Brentford are a heck of a side – they are a very good team,” he added.

“Having been in the game for quite a long time, when you get to the semi-finals or a final of a competition, there’s no weak link.

“Whoever we were going to play was going to be an incredibly difficult game home and away. Brentford’s not going to be any different.

“We know we are in for an incredibly stern test. We know that we have to perform to our maximum levels in both games to get anything and progress.

“That would have been no different playing any other team. We are under no illusions as to how big a test it’s going to be. I think we are ready for it.”