VIDEO: Bosnia’s Roman gladiator Miralem Pjanic a direct threat to Ireland

Bosnia has been here before, and so has Miralem Pjanic.

He was 13 when he travelled to Sarajevo with friends and family to watch Bosnia & Herzegovina take on Denmark in a crucial qualifier for Euro 2004. It ended 1-1, Bosnia just missed out, and Pjanic was devastated. It was the same feeling in the 2010 World Cup play-offs (edged out of top spot by France after a controversial penalty award, and then a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Portugal), and the Euro 2012 play-offs (Portugal again, this time 6-2).

It was only when qualifying for the 2014 World Cup began that Pjanic, who had graduated from the Metz academy via Lyon to become a starring midfielder in the Roma side, had become a major figure in the Bosnia team. And that was despite coach Miroslav Blazevic handing him his international debut aged 18 in 2008, to stave off interest from France. He could also have represented Luxembourg (he played for their youth teams), where he moved to as a baby just months before a brutal civil war hit Yugoslavia and killed thousands of Bosnian Muslims in his hometown of Zvornik.