“We are playing at home against an opponent that should be a pleasure to play against, but we will also need patience,” emphasized Igor Štimac on Thursday at a press conference ahead of the home match against Sloga, with which Zrinjski opens the second part of the football season on Friday.
Zrinjski enters the continuation of the season as the second-placed team of the WWin League of BiH, and the opponent of Mostarci is Sloga, which before the 20th championship round holds the eighth position in the table.
It is a duel in which, from that perspective, the people of Mostar will undoubtedly play the role of favorites, but coach Igor Štimac is still cautious.
– We are satisfied with the preparations and the transition period, and of course there is always some disturbance, injury, but that is an integral part of life. We are not burdened by that, we are concentrating on our own quality and we welcome Sloga, which is in a dangerous zone, with full respect – emphasized Štimac.
In the analysis of the opponent, he especially emphasized the role of coach Sloga Marko Maksimović, who as the youngest coach won the title of champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and his work was also recognizable during his involvement in Posušje.
Along the way, Štimac touched on the new faces in the current B&H champion’s squad, Adi Nalić, Dan Lagumdžija, Tomij Jurić, Toma Palić and Antonij Ilić.
– I am sure that they will make a significant contribution to Zrinjski’s ambitions, I expect them to be real reinforcements. Palić and Ilić are still young players who we will use only when we are sure that they will give their maximum, and for the others I can already say that they are real reinforcements – emphasized Štimac, whose team has six games in front of them this month alone.
However, the expert from Metković emphasized that the team mentally, tactically and physically prepared for these efforts during the preparations in Medjugorje and once again emphasized the focus on the first opponent.
– Even in the preparations, we played on a difficult field, we showed ourselves as a quick, fast and vertical team, and now we are playing at home against an opponent that should be a pleasure to play with. However, we will have to build the game patiently, especially until the first goal – he concluded.
On Friday, two more matches of the 20th round will be played, in which Rudar – Široki Brijeg and Sarajevo – Radnik will meet, on Saturday Velež will welcome Borac at the Rođeni stadium, and the round will close on Sunday with a test between Posušje and Željezničar.
The WWin league table after 19 played rounds shows that autumn champion Borac has 43 points, three more than Zrinjsko and 14 ahead of third-placed Sarajevo.
They are followed by Velež (28), Željezničar (25), Široki Brijeg (23), seventh Radnik (21), eighth Sloga (19), Posušje has 15 points, the same number as the last placed Rudar.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
