Sušić Picks Squad for Qatar Friendly

July 28th, 2010 | by: Harun | Comments(1)

Safet Sušić revealed his call-ups today for the upcoming August 10th friendly with Qatar. It’s a conservative squad, virtually identical to the one called up against Sweden and Germany. The only real decision of note involves Džemal Berberović and Semir Štilić. Berberović announced yesterday that he was retiring from international football, but Sušić went ahead and included him in the squad anyway. Then, presumably after talking with Berberović, Sušić ultimately dropped him in favor of Štilić. More below the fold.

Goalkeepers: Asmir Begović, Kenan Hasagić

Defenders: Sanel Jahić, Adnan Mravac, Mensur Mujdža, Safet Nadarević Boris Pandža, Emir Spahić

Midfielders: Mehmed Alispahić, Senijad Ibričić, Haris Medunjanin, Zvjezdan Misimović, Samir, Muratović, Miralem Pjanić, Elvir Rahimić, Sejad Salihović, Semir Štilić

Forwards: Edin Džeko, Vedad Ibišević, Zlatan Muslimović, Ermin Zec

So that’s our squad. Why exactly Berberović has decided to retire is not immediately clear. At 28, he probably still has a few more years left in him. On the other hand, he hasn’t exactly been a key figure in the national team for some time now. Although he was the only natural right-back in the squad in recent times, his performances on both club and international level have been inconsistent at best. At the end of the day, I think his legacy will largely be that of squandered potential.

Berberović was a great talent when he was younger, starring for both FK Sarajevo and the U21 national team. He eventually even earned a transfer to Bayer Leverkusen – something that most Premijer liga fullbacks would die for these days – but wasted the opportunity by, apparently, focusing too much on the nightlife while on loan at Osnabrück. Bayer promptly sent him back to Sarajevo and his career and play have never really recovered. To make things worse, he earned the ire of many fans when he reneged on his word during the 2006 players’ boycott, originally signing the infamous letter with Barbarez and co. before claiming that he didn’t and then continuing to play in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Not surprisingly, Berberović’s best games in the national team shirt came at the height of his career, when he first made the jump from the U21s and still looked like he would eventually make it with Leverkusen. His finest moment was, without a doubt, the second goal in the Euro 2004 away qualifier against Denmark; Berberović played a critical part in the Bosnian football’s undisputed greatest play since independence. If history is kind to Džemo, this is what the fans will remember him by (skip ahead to the 1:30 mark):

Beyond that, not much worth saying. Štilić is the new addition, but we all know everything there is to know about him already. The fact that there are no new faces in defense (besides Mujdža of course) is a little worrying though. With Berberović retiring, we literally don’t have any back-up full-backs, and it’s still not clear who’s supposed to replace Salihović during his suspension and why Muratović is even in the squad. In Sušić’s defense, however, this early in the season, there aren’t really any new names that have (or even could have) warranted a call-up. It should still be enough to handle Qatar, and hopefully that will in turn be enough to instill a good mood ahead of qualifiers despite the very real possibility of a suspension from FI/UEFA.