Bosnia and Herzegovina's Greatest XI

Amit

Bosnia and Herzegovina make their 1st ever appearance in the World Cup in a few days’ time, which make you wonder, is the current squad their best ever? Well, you could argue they are, but again, Bosnia have produced some quality players over the years despite their war-torn status and relatively small existence time. We take a look at eleven players who might be part of the best ever Bosnia and Herzegovina team.

Goalkeeper – Asmir Begovic

The 26-year-old custodian has been in fine form in the past few years and was instrumental in Bosnia doing well during the qualifiers. Begovic was signed by Stoke City in 2010 and had to bide his time as Thomas Sorensen was Stoke’s number 1 then. He made his debut against Chelsea in April 2010 and has never looked back since.

The highly rated shot stopper has made headlines in the Premier League on a regular basis as he often pulls out great saves to keep his side in games. In the modern game, even goalkeepers contribute a lot to their team, and Begovic fits that bill. His reactions are impeccable, he rarely flaps during corners and his distribution isn’t the worst either, all in all, a perfect keeper.

Begovic kept 5 clean sheets in the 10 games that Bosnia played in the qualifiers as they lost only 1 game and drew another.

Asmir Begovic

Defenders - Vedin Music - Emir Spahic – Mensur Mujdza

Bosnia’s current captain, Emir Spahic is already a legend back home as he prepares to lead the nation in their 1st World Cup. The centre back is 6-feet tall and orchestrates play from the back along with keeping his defence well organized.

He is 33, which makes people wonder if he has enough juice in those legs to keep up with pacey players, but the skipper’s answers come in the form of positioning and reading of the game which has won him many admirers in Germany.

Emir Spahic

Mensur Mujdza, who plays for SC Freiburg, is probably the best fullback in Bosnia’s history. Mujdza has good work rate on the pitch as he joins in almost every attack and gets back in time to fulfil his defensive tasks. Mujdza is an excellent crosser of the ball and is a potent weapon as it enables the likes of Dzeko and Ibisevic to use their height advantage.

Vedin Music appeared 45 times for the national team and much like Spahic is known for his reading of the game.


Midfielders – Zlatan Bajramovic - Blaz Sliskovic - Hasan Salihamidžic – Miralem Pjanic - Zvjezdan Misimovi? – Safet Susic

In the last few decades, Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced some top class midfielders. ?Zlatan Bajramovic is the holding midfielder in our team. He spent his entire club career at Germany and was brilliant at breaking up play and doing the dirty work in the midfield even though he was technically gifted. He retired at an early age of 31 due to injuries and could have made the squad had he been playing now!

Safet Susic is a legendary figure in Yugoslavian and Bosnian football and was an attacking midfielder by trade during his playing days. Susic was good enough to torment the stout defences of Italy and Argentina in the late 1970’s. He was named Bosnia and Herzegovina’s golden player in 2004.

Safet Susic

Hasan Salihamidžic is probably Bosnia’s most decorated player as he won a host of trophies at club level with Bayern Munich. The talented winger was known for his trailblazing runs, and combined with his trickery and persistence, he was a handful for the defence. Salihamidžic retired from the national team at an early age of 29 in 2006. He could also play as an attacking midfielder and it’s safe to say that Bosnia have never had a winger as good as him.

During his time, Blaz Sliškovi? was considered one of the most technically gifted players of his generation. He played as a deep-lying playmaker. In 1985, he was named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year and despite making just 3 appearances for the Bosnian national team, he features in our team. Sliškovi?’s managerial skills are good too as he almost led his country to the Euro 2004. France legend Zinedine Zidane considers Sliškovi? as his idol, which tells you of how good a player he was.

Zvjezdan Misimovic is Bosnia’s most capped player. He operates just behind the striker and is known for his passing ability and was instrumental in Wolfsburg’s title winning season in 2008 as he provided 20 assists that season. In the qualifying campaign too, he was Bosnia’s joint highest assist provider. He’ll be a key player in the World Cup for Bosnia in setting up play and breaking defences.

Miralem Pjanic is expected to take the country forward in the next few years. The 24-year-old midfielder is silky smooth on the ball and yet can sting you when you least expect it. The Bosnia faithful will be hoping that he as good a tournament as his season in the Series A (6 goals and 6 assists). Pjanic is also a dead-ball specialist.


Striker – Edin Dzeko

When Edin Dzeko joined Wolfsburg in 2007, nobody could have predicted that he would lead them to their first ever Bundesliga title a year later. He scored 66 goals in 111 games and soon a move to the Premier League materialized in 2011. With Manchester City, he has won all the trophies except the Champions League, which puts him in the category of the most decorated Bosnian players.

Caption

Dzeko was in fine form during the qualifying stages and mustered 10 goals in 10 games. He has an impressive goals tally of 35 in 62 games while playing for Bosnia. Dzeko is fondly known as “the diamond” by the Bosnian faithful.

Substitutes: Haris Medunjanin, Senad Lulic, Haris Škoro, Senad Begic, Mehmed Baždarevic

Honourable Mentions: Sergej Barbarez, who was an attacking midfielder, had a glittering career in Germany. He was named as the Bosnian footballer of the year twice and misses out narrowly.

Bosnia’s greatest XI

You can read the greatest XI of other teams here: FIFA World Cup Greatest XIs

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Edited by Staff Editor