Squad overview: Goalkeepers

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that most of you at the World Cup Blog aren’t overly familiar with the names on Bosnia’s roster. And you know what? That’s Ok. Because starting with this post, I’ll try to give you guys a summary of how the team stands on different parts of the pitch. I’ll briefly review the shortlist of players that are worth knowing at each position, describing their careers, individual quality and what it all means for the squad at large. I hope that this will make a small and relatively obscure Balkan side more accessible to our largely anglophone readership.

Let’s begin with a look at Bosnia’s goalkeepers.

Assessing a team’s quality between the sticks seems pretty straight-forward, since it only comes down to a few players. After all, you either have a dependable starter and an acceptable back-up or you don’t; there are no tactical complexities involved as with the defense or midfield. And in short, this is not a major area of concern in Bosnia’s quest for World Cup 2010 – for now. We have a strong starter who inspires confidence in the team, but no reliable long-term alternative behind him. With a back four that leaves much to be desired (more on that later), an untimely injury to him could be cause for worry against stronger teams.

The man I’m referring to is Kenan Hasagić from Istanbul B.B. Now approaching 29, he’s been Bosnia’s first choice keeper since 2003. In that time he’s collected close to 30 caps, and would have even more if he hadn’t been one of the players that boycotted the team for much of the Euro 2008 qualifiers (more on that later). Even with this handicap, I would not be surprised if he eventually became Bosnia’s all time caps leader. Kenan is held in very high regard by both his teammates and the fans. When Sergej Barbarez’s retirement proved final, he was one of the leading candidates for the captaincy.

How good of a keeper is Hasagić? Fatih Terim has repeatedly claimed that he considers him the best in Turkey. This might sound odd for someone playing in an obscure club like Istanbul B.B., but Kenan’s potential has always held far greater possiblities. When he first made a name for himself with Sarajevo’s FK Želježničar between 2002-04, there were rumors that he was even being scouted by Liverpool. A move to a big club never materalized (untimely injuries were certainly a factor), but most Bosnian fans would agree that he has been our best keeper since independence. Now that he’s gained Turkish citizenship, a move to one of Istanbul’s big 3 might make sense for both parties.

With all this praise, I should probably make clear that he’s no Buffon. He is prone to lose focus, especially against weaker competition, and this has occasionally cost us. Nor do I think that he has the quality to play for the continent’s great clubs. But that said, he is good, and I could comfortably see him in some mid-level European club. He certainly brings a sense of stability to the national team’s game, and I consider him one of our most consistent and dependable players.

It’s when you start looking for back-ups that things start to get thin. So far in these qualifiers, Miroslav Blažević has called Goran Brašnić to the squad, and the man defended reasonably well in our 4-1 win against Armenia at home (Hasagić was injured). Although he seems to have been capped before, he’s not someone I’m very familiar with. He plays for a small suburban club outside of Zagreb that I’m not going to bother mentioning (they’re currently fighting relegation in Croatia), and I don’t consider him a legitimate alternative to Hasagić. I see him as part of a long line of keepers picked from the Bosnian and Croatian leagues to round out the squad, based largely on factors like immediate form and connections with the coaching staff. This revolving cast also includes names like Muhamed Alaim, Jasmin Burić and Denis Mujkić.

In earlier qualification cycles, the back-up spot often went to Tomislav Piplica and Almir Tolja, but neither of these are likely to return. Piplica was one of the members of Yugoslavia’s golden 1987 U-20 team, alongside such names as Šuker, Prosinečki, Boban and Mijatović. He was a reliable option in his time at Energie Cottbus, but he is well past his prime and currently confined to the club’s bench. Tolja is several years younger, and currently plays for a club in Iran. Don’t let this fool you though: he has put in some fantastic performances for the national team, including a match against Spain in Valencia where he maintained a clean sheet until the 108th minute. He could probably still help us during this cycle, but anomisty from FA officials over his participation in the boycott makes this unlikely.

Note: I originally planned for my second post to be an overview of Bosnian football history. Unfortunately, I’ve been swamped with work lately, so I’ve decided to go with this previously-written one instead. Hopefully I’ll get to the history lesson next, before eventually returning to squad overview. In the meanwhile, Bosnia-Herzegovina seems set to play an away friendly against Slovenia later this month. I will try to provide detailed coverage of that match when the time comes. Till then.