man of the moment in the peninsula.
So much for those who once proclaimed
the youngster to be too frail and short to
flourish in the modern game.
He has all the attributes of a midfield
A-lister – the wonderful range of pass,
imagination and speed of thought, the
dribbling ability and shooting velocity- but that’s not to suggest he is already
the finished article.
He only has four full caps to date
and recently had mixed fortunes on
international duty, spoiling a night of
much good work by conceding a penalty
for a rash challenge on Finland striker
Teemu Pukki. Italy boss Roberto Mancini
was not best pleased, though he will not
hold it against him.
Sensi’s game definitely is evolving. At
Sassuolo he was normally used as a
deep-lying playmaker but now has a
different brief for club and country,
usually deployed in a box-to-box role
with added creative responsibilities.
In the future there is every chance that
Mancini will pair the Inter star in central
midfield with Paris Saint-Germain’s
Marco Verratti.P W D L F A PTS
ITALY 6 6 0 0 18 3 18
FINLAND 6 4 0 2 8 4 12
ARMENIA 6 3 0 3 12 11 9
BOSNIA 6 2 1 3 12 11 7
GREECE 6 1 2 3 7 10 5
LIECHTENSTEIN 6 0 1 5 1 19 1
23.03.19 Liechtenstein-Greece 0-2
23.03.19 Italy-Finland 2-0
23.03.19 Bosnia-Armenia 2-1
26.03.19 Armenia-Finland 0-2
26.03.19 Italy-Liechtenstein 6-0
26.03.19 Bosnia-Greece 2-2
08.06.19 Finland-Bosnia 2-0
08.06.19 Armenia-Liechtenstein 3-0
08.06.19 Greece-Italy 0-3
11.06.19 Liechtenstein-Finland 0-2
11.06.19 Italy-Bosnia 2-1
11.06.19 Greece-Armenia 2-3
05.09.19 Armenia-Italy 1-3
05.09.19 Finland-Greece 1-0
05.09.19 Bosnia-Liechtenstein 5-008.09.19 Armenia-Bosnia 4-2
08.09.19 Greece-Liechtenstein 1-1
08.09.19 Finland-Italy 1-2
12 .10 .19 Bosnia-Finland
12 .10 .19 Liechtenstein-Armenia
12 .10 .19 Italy-Greece
15 .10 .19 Finland-Armenia
15 .10 .19 Liechtenstein-Italy
15 .10 .19 Greece-Bosnia
15 .11.19 Finland-Liechtenstein
15 .11.19 Armenia-Greece
15 .11.19 Bosnia-Italy
18 .11.19 Liechtenstein-Bosnia
18 .11.19 Italy-Armenia
18 .11.19 Greece-FinlandRevelation
AMER GOJAK
Bosnia
The last few months have been
particularly fruitful for the
attacking midfielder or winger,
looking at home on his first start
for Bosnia, in a 2-1 friendly loss
to Italy, and racking up goals and
assists in wins over Liechtenstein
and Armenia.
Bosnia boss Robert Prosinecki- a brilliant ball-playing creator
in his playing heyday – knows an
artist when he sees one and
often speaks of the 22-year-
old’s “massive potential”. Similar
to his national-team boss, Gojak
can be quite magical on the ball,
full of bewitching twists, feints
and ball-on-a-string trickery.
Born in Sarajevo, he came
through the ranks of leading
local club Zeljeznicar, but would
make his pro debut at another
capital city outfit, Olimpic, aged
barely 17.
A little more than 12 months
later he was on the move again,
this time signing for Balkan
powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb,
where gold medals and career
milestones have come as
standard, with four national
championships and three
Croatian cups.GROUP J
Attributes...Sensi
Artist...Gojak