Osim: Belgium is an opportunity to restore the team's image

Honorary President of the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivica Osim, is currently in Graz, Austria, undergoing regular medical check-ups, reports Patria agency.

The conversation started with questions about his health and then about the match we are all eagerly awaiting.

- When you ask me about my health, everything is fine for now. I go for check-ups, I take my medication regularly, and they say it's good for now. As long as a person is alive, they shouldn't complain. It's generally good. I also get to watch some matches in these younger categories. Those matches don't worry me, the play is nice and the pitches are excellent. There are many of our children here, so I watch to see if there's anyone of ours we might miss. I'm also packing slowly to come to Sarajevo for the match.

Regarding what I'm reading in the media about Belgium, where they are making them absolute favorites and speaking in praise, I think it's good and suits us because we are known as big "stubborn ones". This works in our favor because we can show that not everything is as most people think. We know Belgium has a good team and that they are strong, but we don't know that they must win. In my opinion, this campaign that has been made, suggesting we have no chance against Belgium, should work in our favor.

Osim had a large number of matches in his coaching career that carried the prefix "decisive". He knows very well the pressure players are under and how to deal with it.

- In this situation, we must all help the players. When I say all, I mean the media and psychologists too. We need to know what the team reacts to, whether it's stubbornness or patriotism. How to provoke a revolt in the players so they come back to a situation where they have to prove themselves, grit their teeth, and show that they are not what people think. These are all important things that must be taken into account before such a match.

Ivica Osim follows the form of our players and, as he says, it's good that most of them play for their clubs.

- It's good that most of our players are playing for their clubs, but the most important thing for me is that they come to the preparations healthy and alive, and I would say, "normal". When I say that, I mean they need to understand how far we've come and start thinking in a slightly different way. They need to know what is expected of them. They need to know that there are better players than them, but not so many better players that they must lose in advance. I am sure that we have our chance in this match, and let the Belgians think about that.

We are hosting Belgium at Grbavica, a stadium to which Ivica Osim and coach Baždarević are particularly emotionally attached.

- If our players "dig in" at Grbavica as much as Meša "dug in" when he played at that stadium, then we have nothing to worry about. It wouldn't be bad if those surrounding them told them a little about it, so they know how to play there. It's also not bad for the national team to return to Sarajevo a bit.

I hope they won't mind what I said, but it's not bad to change something sometimes. You never know where or when you can gain something. Perhaps in this very match, we will regain the image of a team that fights on the field, which we have lost, whether some want to admit it or not. Let's play this match, and then we'll see, we'll be wiser - concluded Ivica Osim in his own style.