The coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team, Sergej Barbarez, said at today’s press conference that he was very satisfied with today’s tactical training session of the BiH national team, where the best BiH football players prepared a strategy for tomorrow’s match against Cyprus.
Barbarez said that during that training session he tried to set up a team that would play against Cyprus, and that he was extremely satisfied with what the players showed. He believes that the team is fully ready for tomorrow’s match.
“We had a lot of problems with Cyprus in the first match, we talked about it and I think that this match will serve us well to prepare for the next match against them. I think that we are still two steps better than we were then. I have said from the first day that they are a difficult team and that October is the key moment in the qualifications, but I think that we are still the better team at this moment. We will try to impose our game system and put pressure at certain moments,” said Barbarez.
He said that Demirović’s injury is extremely bad news for the team, because he is a player who is very important for the BiH national team and it is very difficult to replace him, while the rest of the team is ready for the match.
He notes that the next phase of the development of the BiH national team is reaching maturity.
“We wanted to bring new, young players to the national team, to change the team’s mentality a little. It’s a difficult path. I don’t know which coach could do more in such a short time. I wanted to go this way. This team can only progress and grow in the future, and we can do it together with them,” added the coach.
BiH national team player Ivan Šunjić, who plays for Pafos in Cyprus, expects a difficult match.
“We have another very demanding match ahead of us. We saw in Zenica how difficult it is to play against them. We didn’t underestimate them then either, but they showed how unpleasant they can be. They played great in Austria, and they managed to draw against Romania after losing 2:0. I know their mentality well, it will be a tough match, but I believe we are ready,” said Šunjić.
He emphasizes that the key to success will be fighting spirit and discipline on the field.
“We have a clearly defined plan on how to confront them. “We have to come in serious and focused from the very beginning, because they will try to use the energy of the home crowd. Our obligation is to respond in kind in the duel and the fight, and then show through quality that we are the better team,” he added.
