Barbarez: We are rarely favorites, so we will play differently against San Marino, two players will miss the match

(Patria) - The coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team, Sergej Barbarez, presented the latest information ahead of the Dragons' match against San Marino. He said that these preparations were the most intensive so far, and the players say: "We are ready".

"Unfortunately, Martin Zlomislić and Stjepan Radeljić will not be ready for the match. They came with minor difficulties from Rijeka. Stjepan's condition worsened slightly, so we gave up on that idea. Otherwise, everyone is fine. The days were very intensive. Perhaps the most intensive so far, and there were some slightly tougher duels, so one or two players missed 1-2 training sessions, but everything is as it should be," said Barbarez.

He stated that the national team is progressing and that they always demand creativity and progress from them. Against San Marino, who are considered one of the weakest teams, they will play with a new style.

"This is the second match where we are in the role of favorites. This is a new moment for us because we have always played against better teams. We will try something new. The game will be more dominant, it will develop 90 percent in their half of the field, but caution is the mother of all things. When we watched the analyses, no matter how weak San Marino is, you have to be ready 90 times to react," said Barbarez.

When asked if the call-up of Vedad Muftić as a replacement for Zlomislić was to fulfill fans' wishes or if he truly deserved it, he said: "We thought for three or four days. We have a history of calling up someone from vacation, bringing them from the beach. The quickest idea was because the guy is here and we received information that he has a level that could be a representative level in the future. The decision was spontaneous. The decision was unanimous, nothing spectacular."

"We have a wealth"

He said that he worked for a long time on restoring the spirit of the national team players and that he thinks long-term, so that the team remains united, whether he is there or not in the next World Cup qualifiers. He also spoke about the quality of the players.

"Each of them will be 2 or 4 years older, with 20+ more matches, and that is huge experience. You see the continuity of their games. This team of ours has won 11 titles, eight players have been champions or cup winners. Go into history and see if any BiH national team has had that. Remove Edin, Biću, and Sejo, and look at the average age of our national team - under 24 years old. It's incredible to have that quality of guys aged 20, 21, 22, and 23 who are already a foundation of this national team. That is a wealth," he emphasized.

He said that he called up some players, even though they had little playing time, because as youngsters they had already changed several countries and endured everything, and emphasized that he is sure they will "repay him on the field".

When asked if Džeko will play, he said that Džeko had a back problem, but that he will "be in the squad" tomorrow.

He also revealed that the team's formation in training will be 4-4-2 in the future.

Tahirović: We do not consider the opponent inferior, training is tough

Benjamin Tahirović said that everyone showed enthusiasm and great will, as well as readiness for tomorrow's match.

"These were the most intensive trainings. We are really training and playing tough. We look ready and we all have great will for these matches. We do not consider the opponent inferior or slow, the mentality towards this match is serious. I think that will give us a big advantage tomorrow," said Tahirović.

He said that changing clubs in January helped him a lot, both for his physical fitness and for his "head".

"I haven't played for a long time, things were what they were at Ajax and what I went through, but since I've been at Brøndby, everything has been positive," he stated.