Milošević: I take responsibility, we couldn't match them but I've only been here seven days

(Patria) - The coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team, Savo Milošević, after the defeat against Portugal, stated that he is the biggest culprit for the heavy defeat in Zenica.

The result in Zenica was 5-0 in favor of the Portuguese national team, and Milošević emphasized that they could not match them energetically.

"I have to admit that all of this was a surprise to me, probably, not probably but certainly I am the biggest culprit for all of this. We couldn't match them energetically, they are another level, but that has nothing to do with us, we weren't at our maximum, three days ago it looked good, but obviously, we don't have the energy for two games in three days. Many teams have that problem. It was very difficult to maintain the level of play with them, and the early goal contributed to all of that, at the start of the match, we entered with a negative result and everything started to go downhill. In the locker room, I told the players, no matter how difficult it is, I said that the second half should be played with character and earn something better in the future. Portugal is definitely not the level we are currently at," said Milošević, adding:

"Today the demands on the players were different compared to the match with Liechtenstein, but it all fell apart in the third minute of the match. One of the main things we agreed on was dueling, but we failed to do that".

Although he doesn't shy away from responsibility, Milošević says he has only been with this national team for seven days.

"We had an agreement to stand higher considering the speed we have and the speed they have. We couldn't reach them, and that's something I should have recognized. The responsibility for the defeat is mine, but there hasn't been enough time for me to recognize these things in the first week of working with the players, essentially we didn't have defensive balance in the team. Playing serious matches without a single defensive midfielder is very difficult, we sacrificed Cimirot and Pjanić for those positions because they don't have those defensive roles, and that's the core of the team. The back line was left exposed due to that poor balance, the coach stated.

He said that they will have to seek their path to the Euros through the playoffs."