Following the match in Solna, the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, Sergej Barbarez, highlighted the excellent second-half performance of our squad.
“Whenever a match is lost, those feelings tend to dominate, even though the reaction shown in the second half is something to be proud of. I am proud to be their coach – proud of how deeply they feel for their country and this national team. These are experiences we can learn from; that is what I told them. I have never been calmer while speaking with them. I tried to steady the situation and signal to them that nothing is lost. We conceded two goals from penalties, and the first goal came from a situation where there was no real chance,” said Barbarez, emphasizing that how the team responded was what mattered most.
“The plan was to stick with the same group of players because I know what they are capable of. The most important thing is to bring joy to our people – to show them that we truly love this crest – and the players demonstrated that and expressed their gratitude. We know the level of support we have, and these guys deserve it; I hope this journey of ours continues for many years to come,” the head coach added.
Armin Gigović scored his third goal in the national team jersey.
“We came out strong for the second half. At halftime, we talked about approaching the second half as if the score were 0 – 0. I’m happy about the goal, but it’s a shame we didn’t come away with any points. The atmosphere was incredible; I know how much this means to our people. We have one more match ahead – we need to prepare as best we can and secure a win at home against Romania,” noted Gigović.
Kerim Alajbegović caused significant problems for the Swedish defense, delivering several high-quality crosses to our forwards. “I think the Swedes were lucky. In the first half we conceded naive goals, we made mistakes, and the penalties were unfortunate, it happens. In the second half, we showed our heart and what we know. We deserved to win, even if it was a draw. I’m proud of the team. The coach told us it was 0:0 and gave us good advice. Our fans are the best in the world, and our team loves them very much. It’s always nice to play in Zenica. Thank you to everyone who was here, it was as if we were playing a home game,” said BH representative, Federalna writes.
