FFBIH representatives Jasmin Bakovic, Safet Susic, Elmir Pilav and Slavica Pecikoza had a meeting today with city council delegation, went to see accomodation conditions in „Casa Grande“ and training center later, followed by joint press conference.

Maria-Eunice Grotzinger, who is in charge of everything related to the World Cup, welcomed our team, and expressed their gratitude for choosing their town as a base.

„It's an honor to welcome you here. We know it's your first time at the World Cup, and we'll do everything to make your stay here pleasant. We seriously prepare to accomodate your team, and bring our two countries closer. We are preparing the campaign titled „Bosnia and Herzegovina in Brazil“, and it's our goal to learn more about your country, players, culture and so on, especially because this campaign is not just regional in nature, but national and international. As a part of that project, we are planning to visit your country, to come to Sarajevo to make a deeper connection to your country.“

General secretary Jasmin Bakovic thanked her for a warm welcome and added: „We are happy to be in friendly Brazil, and to stay here in beautiful Guaruja. I think those 20 days will be unforgettable, and I hope we'll remain here after the group phase to work. This is also an opportunity to promote our country, and I'm convinced we'll make many friends here and to later welcome them in Bosnia.“

Coach Safet Susic is satisfied with the conditions this complex provides, and added at the meeting: „We are not like other teams. I'll bring here 23 young men in june, charming with good manners. I'm sure everyone will have something nice to say about us, our team and our country when we leave.“

After this meeting, our delegation visited training camp, which is still under construction, and we were assured it should be functional on April 14th.

Mayor Maria Antonieta de Brito and her deputy Duino Verri Fernandes with other town officials welcomed our representatives and informed them of the work progress.

Mayor de Brito showed her excitement for us choosing her town as a base of operations, and emphasized again we'll have a their full cooperation and local logistics at our disposal.

„It's an honor to have such a team stay in our town, and be assured we welcome you with an open heart and joy. We put all our efforts in completing the works in time, and being the dreamer nation, we dream football will unite Brazil and Bosnia and Herzegovina“, she added.

This visit was followed by eight TV teams, and about thirty or so journalists who wished to know what are our expectations, how many people our delegation will consist of, when we plan to arrive and so on.

Coach Susic added: „This is only one part of the team, everyone will be here in june hoping we'll stay as long as possible. I really thank you for your hospitality, and I'm surprised a little bit. Everything is flawless so far, there's a lot of work to be done with the stadium, but mayor assured us everything will be fine.“

When asked about his expectations, Susic said: „This is our first time at the World Cup, but we're not here to learn. We have a good team, players who are regulars in excellent clubs, and we want to advance to the 1/16th finals.“

Journalists were happy to hear all trainings will be open to the public, except few mandated by FIFA, and coach expects the locals to support our team not only against Argentina, but during the whole competition.

General secretary had to leave Guaruja earlier for Nice, but he thanked them once again for a warm welcome, and said people in BIH know much about Brazil and their great football names.

During the inspection, some gifts were exchanged, and what's interesting is that Guaruja's town symbol is a dragon, followed by explanation that our football players are also known as „dragons“.

General secretary Bakovic will depart for Nice, where he and vice president Darko Ljubojevic will attend UEFA's meeting for all members' secretaries and presidents. Elvedin Begic will not be able to come.

They will be joined by Susic, Pilav and Pecikoza tomorrow afternoon, in order to attend UEFA's EURO 2016 qualifying draw, followed by another meeting. FFBIH's representatives are expected to return to Sarajevo on Monday.