Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nickname(s)	Zmajevi (Dragons) Ljiljani (Lilies)[1]
Association	Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Safet Sušić
Asst coach	Elvir Baljić Borče Sredojević
Captain	Emir Spahić
Most caps	Zvjezdan Misimović (52)
Top scorer	Elvir Bolić (22)
Home stadium	Bilino Polje, Zenica Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo
FIFA code	BIH
FIFA ranking	57
Highest FIFA ranking	25 (August 2007)
Lowest FIFA ranking	173 (September 1996)
Elo ranking	50
Highest Elo ranking	47 (July 2009)
Lowest Elo ranking	87 (October 5, 1999)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Iran 1–3 BiH (Tehran, Iran; Jun 6, 1993)
Biggest win
BiH 7–0 Estonia  (Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Sep 10, 2008)
Biggest defeat
Argentina 5–0 BiH (La Plata, Argentina; May 14, 1998)

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team is the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, governed by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They played their first match against Iran in 1993 after the split of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Prior to that, Bosnian-Herzegovinian players played for the Yugoslavia national football team. The independent Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team has never qualified for any major tournament, but has come close on multiple occasions.

Brief history

In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2004, only one goal in the last home game against Denmark separated the Bosnian national football team from the play-off to the finals in Portugal. The team ended the qualifiers in fourth position, with the same amount of won games as the other three teams. Denmark won the group, although Bosnia took 4 points from them in two head to head matches.

In the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, the Bosnians continued to play well when matched against teams like Spain (drawing both times), Belgium (one win, one loss), and Serbia and Montenegro (one draw, one loss). Playing against the Serbian team inspires much national pride, as is common with any match that features two former Yugoslav republics. Against Serbia and Montenegro, the Bosnian team drew at home but lost the second leg in Belgrade with a score 1–0. Both matches had extra precautions employed by officials to prevent nationalistic rioting. Disturbances occurred anyway and UEFA fined both football federations. The Bosnians finished third in the group four points behind second place Spain.

In 2009, the Bosnian national team made their greatest achievement in their history by qualifying for the UEFA Second Round in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. They played Portugal in the contest, but did not win. Along the standard qualification process the team beat Belgium, Estonia and Armenia at both home and away. This is the furthest the Bosnian and Herzegovinian national team has progressed in any one qualification phase for a major tournament.

Team Nickname(s)

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the team is typically referred to as Lilies (Bosnian: Ljiljani), a reference to the Fleur-de-lis of Bosnian Kingdom or Dragons (Bosnian: Zmajevi), nickname given to them by Marjan Mijajlović, a sport commentator, which is in turn a reference to Husein Gradaščević, a Bosniak general who fought for Bosnian autonomy in 19th century, also known as Dragon of Bosnia. Whereas in foreign media, sometimes they are referred to as the Golden Lilies.^[1]

Home Stadiums

Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium (Koševo Stadium)

Koševo Stadium as it is also known was opened in the year 1947. In 1984, it was reconstructed for the 1984 Winter Olympics, and is therefore often called Olympic Stadium. In the present day it is officially called "Asim Ferhatović – Hase" since July 2004, after Asim Ferhatović, the legendary FK Sarajevo player who retired in 1967. Today Koševo can seat 37,500^[2] and is also the alternate home stadium of the national team.

For the first time in its history, Koševo Stadium, as it is otherwise known as, was not used in any of the qualifying home games by the Bosnian national side for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina has acknowledged that both players and fans prefer Bilino Polje as the home stadium for the national team. In addition, the FFA has been renovating the facilities there indicating its plans for the future. Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium has however been used for friendly matches while another Sarajevo club has given permission to also use their Grbavica Stadium for team training sessions. The stadium is being expected to host the most important matches in the qualification for Euro 2012, namely against France and Romania.

Bilino Polje Stadium

Bilino Polje is the home football stadium of NK Čelik from the city of Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of two stadiums used by the national team. The capacity of the stadium is 25,000, but some reports state attendance has exceeded 35,000 in the past.

The stadium was built and opened by Dino Dženanović in 1972. The stadium is considered a "curse" for foreign national teams due to the fact that the Bosnian national team maintains an impressive win record at the stadium. Since 1995, the Bosnian national team has played 20 international games in Zenica with a record of 11 wins, 5 draws and only 4 losses. Bosnia never lost a single game in 2010 World Cup qualification at Bilino Polje stadium until the last match of the group qualifiers when they lost 5–2 to Spain.

In a period stretching from 1995 to October 2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina went undefeated at home in about 10 games played in Zenica. The city of Zenica had to wait another 5 years (1995–2000) before the next match of the national team was played at the stadium. This match was also a friendly against Macedonia, with the final result being a victory for the home side 1–0. The national team never lost on this field until the Euro 2008 qualifier against Hungary on September 6, 2006 during this time period.

Recent fixtures

Date	Competition	Venue	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Scorers
2010-08-10	Friendly	Grbavica, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1-1	Qatar	Ibišević  9' — Rizik  61'
2010-09-03	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	0-3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ibričić  6' Pjanić  12' Džeko  16'
2010-09-07	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers	Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0-2	France	Benzema  72' Malouda  78'

Upcoming fixtures

Date	Competition	Venue	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Scorers
2010-10-08	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers	Qemal Stafa, Tirana	Albania		Bosnia and Herzegovina
2011-03-26	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers	Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina		Romania
2011-06-03	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers	Stadionul Naţional, Bucharest	Romania		Bosnia and Herzegovina

Safet Sušić – W 2 /D 1 /L 3

UEFA Euro 2012

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  France 4 3 0 1 6 1 +5 9  Belarus 4 2 2 0 3 0 +3 8  Albania 4 1 2 1 3 4 −1 5  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4  Romania 3 0 2 1 1 3 −2 2  Luxembourg 4 0 1 3 0 6 −6 1

Albania  — 26 Mar '11 1–1 2 Sep '11 1–0 11 Oct '11 Belarus  2–0 — 2 Sep '11 3 Jun '11 7 Jun '11 0–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina  7 Jun '11 6 Sep '11 — 0–2 7 Oct '11 26 Mar '11 France  7 Oct '11 0–1 11 Oct '11 — 2–0 2–0 Luxembourg  6 Sep '11 0–0 0–3 25 Mar '11 — 2 Sep '11 Romania  1–1 7 Oct' 11 3 Jun '11 6 Sep '11 29 Mar '11 —

Fixtures

3 September 2010 20:15 UTC+2	Luxembourg	0 – 3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg Attendance: 7,327 Referee: Veaceslav Banari (Moldova)
		(Report)	Ibričić  6' Pjanić  12' Džeko  16'

7 September 2010 21:00 UTC+2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0 – 2	France	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
		(Report)	Benzema  72' Malouda  78'

8 October 2010 20:30 UTC+2	Albania	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Qemal Stafa, Tirana

26 March 2011	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Romania	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo

3 June 2011	Romania	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Stadionul Naţional, Bucharest

7 June 2011	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Albania	Bilino Polje, Zenica

2 September 2011	Belarus	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk

6 September 2011	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Belarus	Bilino Polje, Zenica

7 October 2011	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Luxembourg	Bilino Polje, Zenica

11 October 2011	France	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Coaching staff

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager	Safet Sušić	Bosnian
Assistant Manager	Elvir Baljić	Bosnian
Assistant Manager	Borče Sredojević	Bosnian
Goalkeeper Coach	Tomislav Piplica	Bosnian
Doctor	Edib Jerlagić	Bosnian
Kinesiotherapy	Radomir Čosović	Bosnian
Kinesiotherapy	Ismar Hadžibajrić	Bosnian
Managing Director	Fuad Kečo	Bosnian
Secretary	Elmir Pilav	Bosnian

Current squad

The following players have been called up to participate in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Luxembourg and France to be played on 3 September and 7 September 2010, respectively.

Caps and goals as of 11 August 2010, after the friendly match against Luxembourg.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Kenan Hasagić February 1, 1980 (1980-02-01) (age 31) 36 0 İstanbul BB 12 GK Asmir Begović June 20, 1987 (1987-06-20) (age 23) 3 0 Stoke City TBA GK Ibrahim Šehić September 2, 1988 (1988-09-02) (age 22) 0 0 Željezničar 2 DF Sanel Jahić December 10, 1981 (1981-12-10) (age 29) 18 1 AEK Athens 3 DF Boris Pandža December 15, 1986 (1986-12-15) (age 24) 10 0 Mechelen 4 DF Emir Spahić August 18, 1980 (1980-08-18) (age 30) 43 2 Montpellier 5 DF Adnan Mravac April 10, 1982 (1982-04-10) (age 28) 8 0 Westerlo 7 DF Ognjen Vranješ October 24, 1989 (1989-10-24) (age 21) 0 0 Sheriff Tiraspol 13 DF Safet Nadarević August 30, 1980 (1980-08-30) (age 30) 30 0 Eskişehirspor 18 DF Mensur Mujdža March 28, 1984 (1984-03-28) (age 26) 3 0 Freiburg TBA DF Gordan Bunoza February 5, 1988 (1988-02-05) (age 23) 0 0 Wisla Kraków 6 MF Elvir Rahimić April 4, 1976 (1976-04-04) (age 34) 23 0 CSKA Moskva 8 MF Miralem Pjanić April 2, 1990 (1990-04-02) (age 20) 19 2 Olympique Lyonnais 9 MF Haris Medunjanin March 8, 1985 (1985-03-08) (age 25) 5 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv 10 MF Zvjezdan Misimović June 5, 1982 (1982-06-05) (age 28) 52 16 Galatasaray 15 MF Sejad Salihović October 8, 1984 (1984-10-08) (age 26) 20 3 Hoffenheim 16 MF Senad Lulić January 18, 1986 (1986-01-18) (age 25) 3 0 Young Boys 17 MF Senijad Ibričić September 26, 1985 (1985-09-26) (age 25) 26 4 Hajduk Split TBA MF Semir Štilić October 8, 1987 (1987-10-08) (age 23) 3 0 Lech Poznań 11 FW Edin Džeko March 17, 1986 (1986-03-17) (age 24) 29 16 Wolfsburg 14 FW Vedad Ibišević August 6, 1984 (1984-08-06) (age 26) 26 6 Hoffenheim 15 FW Ermin Zec March 28, 1988 (1988-03-28) (age 22) 7 1 Gençlerbirliği TBA FW Zlatan Muslimović March 6, 1981 (1981-03-06) (age 29) 22 11 PAOK Current starting XI Probably starting eleven on September 7th 2010 against France: Hasagić Mujdža Spahić Nadarević Lulić Pjanić Rahimić Misimović Ibričić Ibišević Džeko Major Tournaments World Cup record Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA 1998 Did Not Qualify 2002 Did Not Qualify 2006 Did Not Qualify 2010 Did Not Qualify 2014 Total European Championship record Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA 2000 Did Not Qualify 2004 Did Not Qualify 2008 Did Not Qualify 2012 2016 Total World Cup 1930 to 1990 – was part of SFR Yugoslavia Euro 1960 to 1992 – was part of SFR Yugoslavia Managers Manager Time Period Position in Qualifiers Mirsad Fazlagić 1992–1993 Fuad Muzurović 1993–1998 4/5 for WC1998 Faruk Hadžibegić 1999–1999 Mišo Smajlović 1999–2002 4/6 for EURO2000 ; 4/5 for WC2002 Blaž Slišković 2002–2006 4/5 for EURO2004 ; 3/6 for WC2006 Fuad Muzurović 2006–2007 4/7 for EURO2008 Meho Kodro 2008–2008 Miroslav Blažević 2008–2009 2/6 Playoff for WC2010 Safet Sušić 2009 – present For players of Yugoslavian national team see Yugoslavia national football team. Most appearances # Name Clubs BiH career Caps Goals 1 Zvjezdan Misimović Galatasaray/Wolfsburg/Nuremberg/Bochum/Bayern München 2004–present 52 16 2 Elvir Bolić Rijeka/Rayo Vallecano/Fenerbahçe/Čelik Zenica 1996–2006 51 22 3 Sergej Barbarez Bayer Leverkusen/Hamburg/Borussia Dortmund/Hansa Rostock, Union Berlin/Velež Mostar 1998–2006 47 17 4 Vedin Musić Padova/Torino/Antalyaspor/Sloboda Tuzla 1995–2007 45 0 5 Emir Spahić Montpellier/Lokomotiv Moscow/Torpedo Moscow/Shinnik Yaroslavl/Zagreb 2003–present 43 2 Leading goalscorers # Name Clubs BiH career Goals Caps 1 Elvir Bolić Rijeka/Rayo Vallecano/Fenerbahçe/Čelik Zenica 1996–2006 22 51 2 Sergej Barbarez Bayer Leverkusen/Hamburg/Borussia Dortmund/Hansa Rostock, Union Berlin/Velež Mostar 1998–2006 17 47 3 Zvjezdan Misimović Galatasaray/Nuremberg/Bochum/Bayern München 2004–present 16 52 4 Edin Džeko Wolfsburg/Teplice/Ústí nad Labem/Željezničar 2007-present 16 28 5 Elvir Baljić Istanbulspor/Ankaragücü/Konyaspor/Galatasaray/Rayo Vallecano/Real Madrid/Fenerbahçe/Bursaspor/Sarajevo/Željezničar 1996–2005 14 38 Head-to-Head Records against other countries [3] Opponent Games Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Differential  Spain 6 0 2 4 6 14 −8  Iran 6 1 1 4 10 17 −7  Macedonia 5 1 3 1 8 8 =0  Turkey 5 2 1 2 7 5 +2  Estonia 5 3 1 1 14 3 +11  Denmark 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3  Hungary 4 0 2 2 3 6 −3  Malta 4 3 0 1 9 4 +5  Belgium 4 3 0 1 8 7 +1  Croatia 4 0 0 4 6 14 −8  Greece 4 0 0 4 2 11 −9  Norway 4 2 0 2 3 5 −2  Luxembourg 4 4 0 0 8 1 +7  Lithuania 4 2 1 1 6 5 −1  Slovenia 3 3 0 0 7 4 +3  France 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3  Liechtenstein 3 2 1 0 8 0 +8  Malaysia 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3  Serbia 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1  San Marino 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5  Uzbekistan 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1  Scotland 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2  Israel 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2  Faroe Islands 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1  Czech Republic 2 0 0 2 1 6 −5  Albania 2 0 1 1 0 2 −2  Jordan 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1  Austria 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2  Japan 2 0 1 1 2 5 −3  Qatar 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2  Romania 2 0 0 2 0 5 −5  Moldova 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1  Portugal 2 0 0 2 0 2 −2  Armenia 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5  Germany 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2  Sweden 1 0 0 1 2 4 −2  Italy 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1  Wales 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0  Finland 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  Bulgaria 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1  Azerbaijan 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  Slovakia 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  Uruguay 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1  Chile 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  Argentina 1 0 0 1 0 5 −5  Vietnam 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4  Indonesia 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2  China PR 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3  Bangladesh 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2  Bahrain 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  Poland 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1  Korea Republic 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2  Oman 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1  Tunisia 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1  Zimbabwe 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0  Ghana 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1  South Africa 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2  Brazil 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 58 Countries 132 48 28 56 177 193 −16 See also FIFA World Cup UEFA European Football Championship Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-21 football team Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-19 football team Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-17 football team Bosnia and Herzegovina women's national football team References ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Golden Lilies blossoming". FIFA.com. April 9, 2009. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/news/newsid=1046853.html. Retrieved October 10, 2009.  ↑ Stadion Koševo: Stadion "Asim Ferhatović – HASE" ↑ Bosnia-Herzegovina – List of International Matches External links Reprezentacija.net – News portal about Bosnian national football team Reprezentacija.com - News portal and player database SportSport.ba Sportin.ba BHFanaticos Sport Becka Raja BiHSoccer Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Association UEFA.com (Bosnia and Herzegovina) RSSSF archive of results RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers Football in Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina National teams Men's: Bosnia and Herzegovina · U-21 · U-19 · U-17 Women's: Bosnia and Herzegovina League system Premier League · First League (FBiH, RS) · Second League (FBiH, RS) Domestic cups National Cup · Super Cup List of clubs · List of stadiums International association football FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Olympics · Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Pan American Games · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · FIFA Ballon d'Or  · Teams · Debuts · Competitions · Federations · Codes Asia AFC – Asian Cup Africa CAF – Africa Cup of Nations North, Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF – Gold Cup South America CONMEBOL – Copa América Oceania OFC – Nations Cup Europe UEFA – European Championship Non-FIFA N.F.-Board – Viva World Cup– Europeada National association football teams of Europe (UEFA) Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales