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Bosnia’s big-hitters
In front man Edin Dzeko, midfield
maestro Miralem Pjanic and dynamic
left-back Sead Kolasinac, the Bosnians
boast a triumvirate of trusty eminence
with top-drawer experience. With 59
goals in109 caps, skipper Dzeko has an
international strike-rate to die for, while
Pjanic – who swappedJuventus for
Barcelona in the off-season – could
dominate the centre of the park after
recovering from coronavirus in August.2
Baraclough watch
Northern Ireland’s coach got off
to a disappointing start to his new role,
drawing1-1 in Romania before a 5-1
thumping at home to Norway. He has a
huge challenge in succeeding Michael
O’Neill, who was supposed to take
charge of these fixtures before the
virus struck and he turned his full
attention to Stoke City. In 2016,
O’Neill took Northern Ireland to
their first tournament in 30 years,
and Baraclough must find the
same magic touch.3
Northern Ireland’s next generation
At the helm of Northern Ireland’s
U21s for three years, Baraclough is in aperfect position to make the continuity
factor work for him. Youngsters such
asJamal Lewis, Bailey Peacock-Farrell,
Daniel Ballard,Jordan Thompson, Gavin
Whyte and Shayne Lavery all played
under him and have successfully
graduated to the senior set-up,helping to fill the void left by the retired
heroes of 2016 like Chris Brunt, Gareth
MacAuley and Aaron Hughes.4
The Sykes affair fall-out
One youngster who won’t be
graduating from the U21s however, is
Mark Sykes. The Oxford United midfielder
represented Northern Ireland at various
youth levels, yet recently announced
that he would choose the Republic at
senior level, following the likes ofJames
McClean and Shane Duffy. The ensuing
fall-out has sparked heated debate
on both sides of the border, but the
question is: will it have any bearing
on the mood in the NI camp?5
Bosnia’s secret weapons
In addition to Bosnia’s established
stars, the Balkans have several unknown
quantities to watch out for. Right-winger
Edin Visca is known as the “Atomic Ant”
in Bosnia, and has been so good for
Istanbul Basaksehir that the Turkish
champions are clamouring for a statue
of him at their home stadium. Word
has it that the young Swedish-born
centre-backs Anel Ahmedhodzic and
Dennis Hadzikadunic will also earn
their first senior caps.Bosnia-Herzegovina v Northern Ireland
EURO 2020 PLAY-OFFS PREVIEW | PATH B
At the helm...New Northern Ireland boss Ian BaracaloughTalisman...Bosnia
striker Edin Dzeko