Bajević announces squad for the match against Northern Ireland

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The "A" national teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Ireland will play a semi-final playoff match for qualification to EURO on March 26, 2020, in Zenica.

After this match, in case of a win, on March 31, our team will face the winner of the match between Slovakia and the Republic of Ireland.

Our country's coach Dušan Bajević today invited the players he counts on for these matches. The list includes 29 names, and Bajević believes these are our best players at the moment.

"An important match awaits us, and we decided on a larger number of players because we already have problems with injuries, and we hope that all those on the list will arrive healthy and ready for the gathering on March 23.

We believe that the players we have called up can respond appropriately to such a challenge as the playoffs. We must not be misled by the victories we achieved in the Nations League; this is a completely different match, and Northern Ireland is a good team and can cause us problems. However, we have a huge ambition to qualify for the European Championship, and Northern Ireland should not stop us on that path, nor the fact that we will not have Krunić, Lulić, Kolašinac, and Đurić available. We counted on them seriously, but I believe we have the quality and that the other players will do their best to compensate for their absence. We have two weeks left until the gathering, and the most important thing for us is that everyone is healthy," said Bajević.

List of players for the matches against Northern Ireland and Slovakia/Republic of Ireland:

Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Šehić (BB Erzurumspor), Jasmin Burić (Hapoel Haifa), Vedran Kjosevski (FK Željezničar), Asmir Begović (AC Milan)

Defense: Toni Šunjić (Dinamo Moscow), Ervin Zukanović (SPAL), Ermin Bičakčić (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Marko Mihojević (Erzgebirge AUE), Darko Todorović (Holstein Kiel), Bojan Nastić (BATE Borisov), Eldar Ćivić (Ferencvarosi TC), Zoran Kvržić (Kayserispor), Siniša Saničanin (FK Vojvodina), Branimir Cipetić (NK Široki Brijeg)

Midfielders: Miralem Pjanić (Juventus FC), Muhamed Bešić (Sheffield United), Gojko Cimirot (Standard Liege), Haris Duljević (Nimes Olympique), Amer Gojak (GNK Dinamo), Deni Milošević (Konyaspor), Stjepan Lončar (HNK Rijeka), Amar Rahmanović (FK Sarajevo), Anel Šabanadžović (AEK Athens)

Forwards: Edin Džeko (AS Roma), Edin Višća (Istanbul Basaksehir), Armin Hodžić (Mol Fehervar FC), Smail Prevljak (KAS Eupen), Luka Menalo (NK Olimpija), Miroslav Stevanović (Servette Geneve).