Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Sergej Barbarez has refused to apologise to Steve Cooper after claiming the Brondby boss dropped his player Benjamin Tahirovic from club action to help Wales‘ World Cup bid.
Wales host Bosnia in a playoff semifinal in Cardiff on Thursday, with the winners at home to Italy or Northern Ireland next Tuesday.
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Barbarez accused Cooper of trying to help his native Wales on Monday, claims which were flatly rebuffed by Brondby, who said sidelining key Bosnia midfielder Tahirovic was a club decision.
Tahirovic subsequently apologised to Cooper for Barbarez’s words but the Bosnia head coach was in no mood to back down after arriving in Cardiff, saying he had created a “puzzle” for people to consider.
“I don’t think I should apologise for anything,” Barbarez said at his pre-match news conference.
“The only important thing for me is that I trust my players and the idea of all this was to create a puzzle for you, so you can think about all these things.
“I had the idea to protect the player. That’s where all this talking was from.
Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach Sergej Barbarez speaks at a news conference at the Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday. Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images
“I’ve known Benjamin for the last two years and I know what a good player he is and how he can be. So I think we should concentrate on the match, which is the most important thing for both teams.”
Bosnia are 71st in the world rankings and 35 places below Wales, but were within 13 minutes of qualifying for the World Cup in November as group winners.
An Austria equaliser in Vienna ended that hope and sent them to the playoffs instead.
But Bosnia — whose only previous World Cup appearance came in Brazil in 2014 — have not lost in four games against Wales, recording two wins and two draws.
Barbarez added: “This is the type of game we all play football for and everyone is fit and ready to go.
“We can not compare these two games, against Wales and Austria. We took some conclusion from the Austria game, which was quite an experience.
“We have a good chance due to that experience. We have a plan and every eventuality is covered, including penalties and extra-time. We are optimistic.”