Youngsters suffer narrow defeat to Norway at Grbavica

(Patria) - Bosnia and Herzegovina's U-21 team was defeated tonight at the "Grbavica" stadium by Norway with a score of 0:1 in the 7th round of Group G of the Euro U-21 qualifiers, which will be played in 2027 in Albania and Serbia.

Norway had more concrete chances at the beginning of the match, mostly through Sindre Walle Egeli, who tried to threaten on several occasions, but Amar Ibrišimović averted danger with timely blocks in the 11th and 13th minutes.

Egeli also shot in the 21st minute, but the ball went wide of the goal.

The young "Zmajevi" (Dragons) had a good opportunity in the 17th minute after a free-kick combination, when Emin Kujović shot from over 20 meters, but it went past the post.

Goalkeeper Mladen Jurkas distinguished himself twice with excellent saves after shots from Niklas Ødegård in the 28th and 39th minutes.



Marius Broholm also missed a great chance, heading wide from five meters. In the 40th minute, Jurkas once again saved the net, stopping the ball on the goal line.

A more dynamic game was seen in the second half, with several extremely dangerous situations in front of both goals.

As early as the 58th minute, Emin Kujović took a fantastic shot from an angle, from more than 30 meters, with a strong curve, but the ball hit the crossbar.

Norway scored in the 70th minute. Egeli took a free kick from the right side, the ball went through a crowd in our penalty area, escaped Jurkas' control, and ended up in the net.

In the 80th minute, Filip Taraba shot from 25 meters, but the ball went over the goal.

- Despite the difficult and cold weather, with occasional snowfall, both teams played a good and quality match. At times, both we and Norway had control of the game.

Both teams had their chances, but unfortunately, we didn't convert ours. We conceded a goal from a set piece, which is Norway's strongest weapon, especially in this difficult weather. I have no complaints about my team; I think they played an excellent game.



It is evident that we have progressed as a team in certain segments of the game, especially in building attacks and creating chances. We move on. This team still has a lot of room for improvement, which they show from game to game.

We are only halfway through the qualifiers, and our next matches are in March against Slovenia at home and Israel away - stated the coach Branislav Krunić after the match.

Norway maintained their perfect record after three matches played and are at the top of the table, while our team has 5 points from four games.

Our young team's next matches are in March, when they first host Slovenia on March 27th, and four days later they visit Israel.