In the past almost nine months, the futsal national team played several friendly matches and recently two qualifying matches for placement at Euro 2026.
Selector Goran Melher summarized the results in an interview for the official website of N/FS BiH, talked about the playing staff, logistical support and plans for the next year.
“Honestly, when I came to the position of coach, the situation was not great. We were without a coach for a year and some things needed to be put in order. In this period, we managed to make great progress in terms of organization, thanks to the support of the president Vice Zeljković, the special coordinator for futsal A selection Borislav Škarić, as well as the administration of the Federation. What I presented in my plan, we slowly began to realize. There is still a lot of work and room for improvement because futsal is constantly developing, but for now I am satisfied,” said Melher.
What could you see through friendly matches, and what through qualifying matches?
“44 players went through ten friendly matches and one selective gathering. A lot was seen and what I have been saying since the first day, that we have talented players, was confirmed. We are lagging behind in psychological and physical preparation, and we have been working on that since the beginning. These gatherings and strong matches were just an excellent indicator of the direction we should go,” said Melher.
Can the playing staff at your disposal meet all your requirements?
“It can and it can’t in some situations. We have a problem with the continuity of work in the clubs, that is our biggest problem. However, a national team player must be a professional, have continuity and a high intensity of training and playing in order to be ready for national team matches. For three or four days of gathering, neither I nor the coaching staff can do much for the physical preparation of the players. We need to work on strengthening the clubs and raising the quality of the domestic championship, because we don’t have many professional futsal players who play for foreign teams. If we have a quality league, we will have quality players. All of this leads to other issues, such as the expertise of the coaches, the way things are done in clubs, etc. Some teams only have training two to three times a week, while in Spain they have 8-9 times, and that’s a big difference. If we introduce only these small changes, they will certainly affect the quality of futsal in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “With the joint engagement of the Association and the clubs, I think we can make progress in that direction in order to strengthen our indoor soccer league and create a base of players for some future major competitions,” Melher believes.
In the first round of qualification for Euro 2026, BH. the team achieved one win and one loss. How would you rate that performance?
“As for England, we emphasized the role of favorites from the beginning, which we confirmed with the results. We didn’t allow any surprises and we achieved what we set out to do. The situation was different with Spain. We played much better than the score suggests. We practically “gifted” them some goals, they scored them from our mistakes. In general I can be satisfied. We showed that we can play against top teams at an enviable level. We didn’t back down or close in order to lose possibly by two or three goals. I simply want to create a system where we will always go for the win and where our team will be respected by everyone. That’s how we set up in Spain, we even attacked and put pressure in some moments, and I think we’re on the right track to do something. I would especially emphasize that it is a pleasure to work with these guys, the atmosphere is positive, you can feel the good energy. I can freely say that these players were not there just to do training and matches. “They trained hard and seriously, enjoyed playing futsal and socializing, and prepared to be at the highest possible level in the matches,” said Melher.
The goal is to take one of the first two places, are these realistic expectations?
“Our goal is to win 12 points and from the second position we go to the playoffs. We would hope for a positive draw there, although I think that at the moment our national team, apart from four or five top selections, can play with everyone without problems. Our goal is to go to the European Championship, we have Switzerland at home on February 4, 2025, followed by two difficult visits to Switzerland and England. We enter all three of these matches as favorites and they are the most important for us if we want to qualify. I hope that everyone will be healthy and that there won’t be any other problems, so these 12 points are realistically achievable in my opinion,” says Meher.
(Vijesti.ba)
