Today in Sarajevo, the head coach of the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sergej Barbarez, officially announced the list of players for the upcoming World Cup.
Barbarez and director of the A national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina Emir Spahić at today’s press conference, they talked about the plans for the World Cup, the preparations of the national team, organizational details, the process of gathering the team and the ambitions of the national team of BiH before the biggest challenge in the last few years.
Barbarez pointed out that preparations will begin with 26 football playersemphasizing that the professional staff weighed the final decisions for a long time in order to leave room for possible changes due to the health bulletin of the national team members.
It always is it’s hard to tell someone that they won’t be part of the team for the World Cup. We decided to start with 26 players in order to have the ability to react if problems arise, said the selector.
He referred to the health bulletin of the national team, and especially to Amir Hadžiahmetovićwho made the roster despite injury issues. The selector pointed out that Hadžiahmetović showed great desire to be part of the team for the World Cup, although at one point he was very close to surgery.
He was practically on the verge of surgery, but he wanted to try an alternative recovery method. We are in constant contact with the doctors and the agreement was that he would be ready for the meeting on May 23, which he promisedBarbarez said.
Speaking about the players who are on the broader national team list, the coach confirmed that it has been sent nine presumptions footballers who are seriously counted on by the coaching staff if there are unplanned changes in the staff.
The gathering of the national team is scheduled for May 23when the first part of the national team will join the team, while the rest will arrive two days later.
BiH will have its first test on May 29 against North Macedonia at the Koševo stadium, and then the national team will travel to the United States on June 2, where they will play friendly match against Panama. The match against Panama will be played on June 6 in St. Louis, after which the national team will travel to Toronto where they will meet the home team of Canada at the start of the group stage of the World Cup.
Barbarez also spoke during the conference tactical options which the national team will use during the preparatory matches.
We will try against North Macedonia certain variants of the system and test alternative solutions. Panama is a specific opponent and a good preparation for Canada because it is a team that plays hard and disciplinedsaid the selector.
He emphasized that the BiH national team now has more offensive options than before.
We have shown that we can play very offensively. We have player profiles that allow different variants and more flexibility in the gamesaid the selector.
The midfielder will make his debut in the jersey of the BiH national team Ermin Mahmića young football player who previously played for Austria’s youth national teams. Spahić revealed that the process of changing sports citizenship lasted for months.
It was a long and demanding process, but his desire to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina was not in doubt from the beginning. We are happy that he will be part of the national team, he said, while Barbarez described Mahmić as a player profile that the national team lacked, and emphasized that he is a “very offensive and technically quality player who has a lot of room for improvement.
We want young footballers who will form the backbone of the national team in the coming years, pointed out the selector.
He added that he would the main camp of the national team to be in Salt Lake City.
After the game in Toronto, we are moving to Salt Lake City, where we will be our base during the tournament. Our goal was reduce the number of flights and avoid additional fatigue due to time differencesBarbarez explained.
When asked about administrative problems related to visas for Canada, Barbarez pointed out that the representatives of the NSBiH are in contact with the embassies so that all members of the delegation will receive the necessary documentation on time.
At the World Cup, Bosnia and Herzegovina will play in a group with Canada, Switzerland and Qatar, and the coaching staff believes that the national team can achieve a historic result and make a step forward compared to its debut performance at the 2014 World Cup.
(Fena | Photo: NS BiH)
