Bosnia and Herzegovina homeless football team tops first day of tournament in Bulgaria

Two wins and one loss after a penalty shootout were enough for the Bosnia and Herzegovina homeless football team to finish the first day of the International Tournament in Sofia in first place. Our boys defeated Bulgaria 9:6, and the team United Africa (a team composed of migrants and students from African countries) 9:5, while we lost on penalties to Romania 5:4 (the regular part of the match ended 4:4), reports the Patria agency.

Three more matches are scheduled for tomorrow for our team against the same opponents, after which the most successful teams of the tournament will be known. The tournament itself in Sofia is taking place in a pleasant atmosphere, the host is excellent, and it is an ideal opportunity for fine-tuning ahead of the World Cup in Scotland, reports from Sofia Elmedin Škrebo, project manager of MFS-EMMAUS, under whose organization our representatives traveled to Bulgaria.

The International Tournament in Sofia is also the final gathering of the team before the 2016 Homeless World Cup, which will be held this year from July 10 to 16 in Glasgow.

After winning a historic silver medal at the World Cup in Chile for homeless footballers, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team began preparations for the Homeless World Cup 2016 back in April this year. The best result of the BiH team so far is second place at the World Cup in Chile in 2014.

The rule for all teams is to change the entire squad each year, and this year BiH will be represented by Asmir Mehić, Danijel Kolanović, Eldin Baraković, Mehmed Baščelić, Jovan Malinović, Sejfo Beganović, Sefer Halilović, and Esmin Mehanović.

This year, 48 men's and 16 women's teams will participate in the World Cup in Glasgow. It will be the 14th World Cup in a row, and the 5th in a row for our team.