The head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina football team, Sergej Barbarez, expects an intense and demanding match against Romania in the second round of the UEFA Nations League, stressing that the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team players must respond to the pressure of the hosts, play bravely and take advantage of the opportunities that arise. You can watch all matches of the Dragons in the League of Nations exclusively on BHRT programs.
At tonight’s media conference at the National Arena in Bucharest, Barbarez said that the players handled the match against Poland well, after which they had enough time to recover, and that he would make the final decision on the team after assessing their condition.
Speaking about the Romanian national team, which is now led by Gheorghe Hagi, Barbarez pointed out that each new coach brings his own ideas and way of playing, but that the quality and character of the Romanian players are well known to the BiH coaching staff.
He especially singled out the mentality of the Romanian team, judging that the host will be under additional pressure after losing to Sweden in the first round.
“We have to play bravely and take advantage of our opportunities,” Barbarez said.
Bosnia and Herzegovina opened the League of Nations with a goalless draw against Poland in Warsaw, while Romania was defeated 2:1 by Sweden.
Barbarez expects that the intensity of tomorrow’s match will be reminiscent of last year’s two duels between these national teams in the qualifiers for the World Cup, when Bosnia and Herzegovina won in both matches.
He said that these matches were physically demanding and open, with periods in which the result could have gone either way, but he believes that BiH’s victories were deserved.
Barbarez once again emphasized the importance of unity within the national team, which he says has been one of the basic principles of work since the beginning of his mandate.
According to him, the national team jersey must imply a sense of pride and belonging, and the behavior of the current generation shows that the players have accepted such an approach.
BiH representative Haris Tabaković also spoke at the press conference, who also expects a difficult match.
Tabaković believes that the previous victories over Romania will not affect the approach to the match and that the BiH national team players must again play with great intensity and seriousness.
The match will be played without the presence of the audience, which Tabaković described as an unusual situation, stating that he does not remember playing a representative match in such circumstances since the period of the coronavirus pandemic.
The match between Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be played on Monday at the National Arena in Bucharest from 20:45 CET, with live broadcast on BHRT programs, Fena writes.
