In a full “Asim Ferhatović Hase” stadium, in front of about 30,000 fans, the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina played a draw (0:0) against the selection of North Macedonia in a friendly match.
Although the nets were still at the end, the audience could see a dynamic and solid performance and the dominance of the Dragons, which was not crowned with victory.
Already in the 4th minute, Baždar masterfully left the ball for Alajbegović, who freed himself from several Macedonian footballers with a delivered a powerful shot. The ball caught one of the visitors’ defenders, and the crossbar saved North Macedonia.
The pressure continued, and already in the 6th minute, our team asked for the most severe penalty after a kick from a moody Bajraktarević, but the referee judged that there were no elements for a penalty.
BiH completely controlled the middle of the field in the first half, keeping possession of the ball at a high 68 percent. However, one carelessness in the 32nd minute could have cost us dearly.
Katic made a cardinal mistake in defense, the ball reached Miovski, who took advantage of Zlomislic’s exit and lobbed him attractively. When everyone had already seen the ball in the net, Stjepan Radeljić threw the ball off the goal line at the last moment with a phenomenal and self-sacrificing reaction.
The end of the half went to the Dragons again. In the 45th minute, Bajraktarević brilliantly broke through the right side and crossed accurately, Baždar was in the right place and made a great header, but the post saved the visitors.
On the eve of the start of the second half, the BiH camp suffered a lot of bad luck. Osman Hadžikić, the third goalkeeper of the national team, was injured during the warm-up. Our goalkeeper’s foot slipped, which is why he had to be carried off the field on a stretcher to the applause of support from the stands.
In the continuation of the match, the coaching staff of BiH decided to give a chance to a large number of players, so Bašić, Burnić, Hadžikadunić, Muharemović, Memić, Hadžiahmetović, Mahmić, Čelik and Demirović were on the field.
A large number of substitutions, as expected, affected the rhythm of the match, and the second half was played much more cautiously.
In the 69th minute, Demirović had a good chance, but the ball went wide. The last excitement was seen in the 80th minute when Bašić made a great free kick, but the visitors’ goalkeeper managed to save with a lot of difficulty.
The score remained 0:0, and it is worth mentioning that Edin Džeko, Sead Kolašinac and Nikola Vasilj got saves in this match.
After the Sarajevo spectacle, the Dragons expedition travels across the Atlantic to the United States. BiH will on June 6 in St. Louis to play a dress rehearsal against the Panama team, where mass and fanatical support from the Bosnian diaspora is traditionally expected, Klix.ba writes.
All this serves as a prelude to the most important thing – the World Cup. We remind you that by the will of the draw BiH was placed in group B, and all the matches of the group stage will be played by the Dragons in the evening from 21:00 o’clock.
BiH – Canada | June 12 at 9:00 p.m. (Toronto)
BiH – Switzerland | June 18 at 9:00 p.m. (Inglewood)
BiH – Qatar | June 24 at 9:00 p.m. (Seattle)
