Despite the draw against Austria and the missed opportunity to secure a direct qualification for the World Cup, the coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team, Sergej Barbarez, said that he was proud of his players.
“I can certainly express immense pride, immense happiness that I can work with these guys who gave their all. This is the right path, we want to continue. Of course, these are sad moments now, but we are moving forward. This is the basis, this is what this national team needs,” Barbarez said after the match for BHT 1.
BiH had a one-goal lead after the first 45 minutes, but Austria managed to equalize and secure a direct qualification for the World Cup with a draw. Barbarez emphasizes that the plan was to have more possession of the ball and to do something in the transition in attack.
“We had two chances and a couple of other situations where the pass was missing, but who can blame us. Unfortunately, we failed,” added the coach of the Bosnian team.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will have another chance through the play-offs, where they will face Wales, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland as potential opponents. The draw is on Thursday, and the play-off matches will take place in March next year.
“I hope that all the injured players will be back by March and with this confidence we will try to win those two games and qualify,” said Barbarez.
