Bosnia bidding to take the final step

CHARISMA can have extraordinary power. In the summer of 2008, Miroslav Blazevic took over a Bosnian national side in crisis.

Mehmed Kodro had been sacked as coach after refusing to play in a friendly in Tehran from which, it later turned out, members of the football federation board were set to make €132,000, and the bulk of his squad had gone on strike in sympathy. Blazevic insisted his role was “political” and “humanitarian” rather than necessarily having much to do with football.

The force of Blazevic’s personality overrode ethnic divisions, and Bosnia reached a play-off for World Cup qualification in which they faced Portugal. They were unlucky in the first leg in Lisbon, losing 1-0, then flat in Zenica, when they also lost 1-0. Blazevic stood down and took on a job in China. Yet what Blazevic’s bluster had obscured was just what a gifted young squad this is.