Alright, so we know the players who are going and the likely line-up, what do you expect and who do you think will be our break-out player...
you could have just put down numbers 1 through 24 I think they all will do great - I can't say one will do better than the other - motivation to succeed will be unbelievable!
10, Muhamed Besic. Kid is exactly what we need if he plays. But I think we will fall just short of second
Dzeko will be the "best" player but Pjanic will be absolutely essential and wont be the first name that pops up to most casual fans cuz goals mean a lot to people not how or why that goal happened. Realistically a loss to Argentina. A win against Nigeria and an absolute beating handed out to Iran. My thoughts. Argentina game: We can very well scrape a point away from Argentina. On our day we could give them a hard time especially on the right wing. Hajrovic, Visca or whoever plays the right side will be key in this game. They dont really have a great LB and we have plenty of good options that could expose that. RM/RB key players. Crosses will be key as well considering it will be very difficult to contain Dzeko in the box on set piece crosses or crosses from open play. Dzeko, Lulic, Mujdza, Pjanic, Miske and Hajro/Visca being key players. Another key point is set pieces themselves. Do we take the shot from outside 25-30 yards? Do we set up for a cross/ball over the top? I believe we have good options in the air and can hurt them there. Pjanic/Miske being key players. The defensive key point is slowing down their attack. You can only slow them down. Cannot stop them. With their options they will definitely get chances but when and how is important. Fouling near midfield will be necessary. Knock em down. Set up defensively and force a long freekick or a short pass and contain/pressure. Besic being the key player. Nigeria game: Must play to our strengths and keep calm. They do indeed possess pace and strength but not great technically nor do they have many threats like Argentina. Neutralizing Obi Mikel will be key. Getting him an early yellow would be a very very helpful moment in that game. I dont see them stoping Dzekson on that game. I think he'll shine brightly in that one. I also see that game having a lot of fouls so set pieces can be key as well. Iran game: Anything less than a 2 goal victory is a complete failure on that game. They offer no real threat and we clearly have the better team. I see that game being one where Pjanic, Lulic and Medo have quality games. Theyll have space and time to operate smoothly and they excel when given both. Round of 16 we either get France, Swiss or Ecuador depending on who finishes first. We obviously would hope for an Ecuador 1st place finish as theyre the easier team of the 3. Swiss IMO are a bit overrated and would be 2nd choice to face in Round of 16. France last choice even tho that team seems to have tons of internal problems and we should be confident against them considering we shouldve beat them and Nasri wont be there to win a phantom pk outside the box.
Worst case scenario is we loose all games without scoring a single goal. Also Pjanic and Kolasinac breaking their legs that ends their careers as players. Dzeko and Begovic retiring from the national team. Susic ruining his status as a Bosnian football legend. And Arslanagic picking Belgium over us because of our WC performance.
Besic for me too. I don't know how far we'll go but if we give it our all, i think we can end up being top 4 team in the tourney. Very few of those countries scare me. Ok, no pressure boys.
Is head-to-head the first tie breaker or GD? Because if it's head-to-head I doubt Argentina would risk finishing second lol. But I guess we would finish tied with Nigeria too and be ahead of them on GD. Idk, that would make things all very interesting
GD followed by number of goals scored hopefully we can beat Iran by a great margin if we lose to Argentina lose by only a goal and if we draw against Nigeria and Nigeria doesn't draw against Argentina we moving on
I have us making it out of the group and beating France on PKs in round of 16 but lose in the quarters
So... 1.)Brazil-Netherlands Brazil 2.)Colombia-Italy Italy 3.)France-Bosnia Bosnia... 4.)Germany-Russia Germany 5.)Spain-Croatia Spain 6.)Uruguay-Ivory Coast Uruguay 7.)Argentina-Switzerland Argentina 8.)Belgium-Portugal Belgium Next Stage 1.) Brazil-Italy Brazil 2.) Germany-Bosnia Germany 3.)Spain-Uruguay Spain 4.)Argentina-Belgium Argentina Next Stage 1.) Brazil-Germany Brazil 2.)Spain-Argentina Spain 3rd place game Germany-Argentina Germany World Cup final Brazil-Spain Brazil This might change as we get closer and after the first game for everyone
Not sure what to expect. We were fortunate to have an easy qualifying group, we've shown some flashes of greatness in the last couple years, we don't have a strong enough defense to play with the big boys just yet, we're not a deep team, we have an incompetent coach, we've never played at a big tournament before, it's in South America, two of our three opponents are unpredictable and so awe, we have the baksuz factor working against us, etc. etc. ... So it's some positives and some negatives. I wouldn't be shocked if we managed a draw against Argentina, but lose against one or two remaining opponents. It's a cliche, but I'll just take it one game at a time and will enjoy our first WC as much as possible. I wish I was there to watch it, but maybe next time. I voted for Pjanic because I think he's our most talented player and will be the difference maker, but most people wouldn't notice it because he's not the one scoring goals.
Semi finals, best player - vrsajevic. Game tied 2-2, overtime, runs at defender, scares him enough for him to lose concentration, scoops the ball up, scares the goalie, scores on an open goal. Susic pulls his back trying to imitate Mourinho. "joj, jebem ti leđa, boli leđa, brzo pipi, donesi mi leda!"
I do think Argentina will easily top the group. However I do think Bosnia has a good shot to be the runner up and get out of the group.