Sušić Reveals Call-ups for Luxembourg and France Qualifiers

August 24th, 2010 | by: Harun | Comments Off

Today Safet Sušić revealed his squad for our first two qualifiers against Luxembourg (away) and France (home). Consensus holds that this is Sušić’s best squad yet, omitting some dead wood (namely Samir Muratović), featuring two new likely starters (Lulić and Mujdža) and giving a chance to two of the stars of our U21s (Bunoza and Vranješ). Here they are alphabetically, with youtube links provided in the case of recent highlights.

Goalkeepers: Asmir Begović (Stoke City), Kenan Hasagić (Istanbul BB), Ibrahim Šehić (Željezničar)

Defense: Gordan Bunoza (only vs. France) (Wisla Kraków), Sanel Jahić (AEK Athens), Adnan Mravac (Westerlo), Mensur Mujdža (Freiburg), Safet Nadarević (Eskişehirspor), Boris Pandža (Mechelen), Emir Spahić (Montpellier), Ognjen Vranješ (only vs. France) (Sheriff Tiraspol)

Midfield: Senijad Ibričić (Hajduk Split), Senad Lulić (Young Boys), Haris Medunjanin (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Zvjezdan Misimović (Wolfsburg), Miralem Pjanić (Lyon), Elvir Rahimić (CSKA Moscow), Sejad Salihović (ineligible) (Hoffenheim), Semir Štilić (Lech Poznań)

Forwards: Edin Džeko (Wolfsburg), Zlatan Muslimović (PAOK), Vedad Ibišević (Hoffenheim), Ermin Zec (Gençlerbirliği)

More below the fold.

Most of our players are currently in form. Hasagić just shut out Beşiktaş, Lulić had a very good game in Young Boys’ Champions League victory over Tottenham and Ibišević has tallied 4 goals and 4 assists in the last 3 matches. As I discussed in my last post, Ibričić has been on fire with Hajduk, scoring some fantastic goals in European competition, while another one of our playmakers, Misimović, was responsible for the corner that Džeko headed in to score against Bayern in Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga opener.

Defensively, Bunoza, Pandža and Vranješ all seem to have cemented starting spots with their new clubs, while Mujdža still seems to be the first-choice right back for Freiburg (although he did pick up a slight injury). Bunoza and Vranješ will first feature for the U21s against Italy before joining the senior team ahead of France. Except for the veteran Rahimić and goalkeeper Begović, all of our players are currently regulars for their club teams. Miralem Pjanić, however, might be in danger of losing his spot due to Lyon’s acquisition of French international Yoann Gourcuff. Begović, it should be said, has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea in recent weeks.

In terms of omissions, Samir Muratović is finally no longer on the team as he is confined to the bench at Stürm Graz. His 22-year-old teammate Haris Bukva, however, is a starter, and the left-sided midfielder had a great game against Juventus, receiving the highest individual rating of the match from Goal.com; except to see him get a call-up in the near future. Šibenik’s Mehmed Alispahić has also been dropped – a talented player but simply surplus to requirements given our cornucopia of attacking midfielders. Sejad Salihović received a call-up even though he’s been suspended for four games. This is because he’s otherwise safely in the starting XI and it’s important to have him stay with the team.

All in all, a very solid squad. Besides the minor omissions of Bukva and Sead Ramović, these are the best that Bosnia-Herzegovina currently has. I’ll try to post previews and post-match analysis of our upcoming matches when the time comes.