Time and circumstances weren’t on his side, but that didn’t disrupt his plans, and after his education in 2011 he earned a UEFA PRO coaching license. Having this license isn’t just proof of knowledge and expertise, but also confirmation that you have the ability to lead a team to success, make strategic decisions under pressure — something Barbarez certainly didn’t lack during his career.
About Barbarez as a player, everything is more or less known; about him as a coach, there’s still much to be said. A little over a year into his tenure on the national team bench, the public and media are, more or less, on his side. For now, his playing charisma outweighs his coaching one — we believe not for long, because at the moment our team is at the top of the standings in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with realistic chances to remain in the fight for the top two spots until the end.
Ahead of the continuation of the qualifiers, head coach Barbarez speaks about when and how the desire to work with the best national team arose, whether he dreamed about it while representing his country as a player, the challenges of his job, and the vision he’s trying to pass on to his players.
"We all have certain dreams, and it’s definitely something special to represent your country in any form, especially after those fine playing days, to sit at the helm of the A national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I’ve always had a strong emotional connection to the jersey I wore, to the fans, so I feel a mix of pride, honor, and great responsibility toward the job I’m doing. This is more than a dream, and that’s why it deserves all my strength, energy, great will, and desire to turn some of my dreams into reality. I hope, and I strongly wish, that what I missed out on as a player, I’ll achieve now as a coach and that is to lead our national team to a major competition."
In one of your interviews, you said that for you, everything somehow started late. You started playing football at 13, played in the Bundesliga at 25, and became a national team player at 27. Do you think you came to the head coach position late as well, or is this perhaps the perfect time for you because you can shape the team according to your vision and lay the foundations of a new, rejuvenated national team?
"I think it’s never too late if you’re on the right path. Maybe my career could be called a bit late-blooming if we look from today’s perspective, and all my successes came somewhat later. That’s why I played until I was 37 and managed to achieve everything in those 15–20 years of my career. When it comes to the head coach position, I think maybe it was meant to be this way, I’m even starting to believe in that. I think this was exactly the moment when my personality, my life, and my sports experience can give the most to the national team. I’ve learned that some things in life happen for a reason, so this position probably came at the moment when the team maybe needed me the most, that’s how I see it now. The path is right. What’s most important is that I feel great. I always emphasize that I have energy, love, and pride in abundance to go this route, and time maybe doesn’t play a big role in all this. What matters is that we know what we’re doing, what our ultimate goal is, and I don’t think about whether it came late or not. I know I’m just at the beginning, but I’m sure I can give a lot in this position, and I’m ready, just like back on the pitch, now in a different role, to give my best."
How would you describe yourself as a head coach, and would it be a challenge for Barbarez the coach to work with Barbarez the player today?
"I wouldn’t want to describe myself or talk about myself. I try to pass on to our players part of what my coaches gave me, of course in my own way. I think totally different things play a role in the national team compared to the club level. That’s why my priorities with players are: pride, first and foremost, the willpower factor, and something written in bold letters with me is humility. That means you’re happy to be here without any demands or wishes, but simply to be a national team player who’ll show character, energy, fighting spirit, discipline on the pitch, and be ready to sacrifice and work for the good of the team. I think I was like that as a player myself, with a heart that I sincerely and without calculation put into the game, so those are the things I’m asking for now as a head coach. I think that player Barbarez would definitely have some role with coach Barbarez — maybe as a striker, fast, great in the air, dangerous in front of goal. I’d be happy to have that quality in the team."
How important is your staff to you?
"Throughout my career, I saw what it means to have a good staff, especially during that period in Leverkusen in the mid-90s when the coaching staff began to have an important role in team building. The role of the coaching staff is extremely important at the national team level as well. That’s why it was important to me that for every segment of modern football, we have a specific coach, whether it’s tactics, usual situations, passing game, conditioning, goalkeeping coach, etc. I had a strong desire, and I’m grateful for the opportunity, to choose my own staff. I’m surrounded by people I’ve known for many years. But they’re not here because we’re more than friends, that’s all fine, but what matters is how we can pass our individual rich experiences and knowledge on to these young guys and how that looks on the pitch. And that’s the thing I’m more than happy about, how well it’s clicked between us in that professional sense. We trust each other, we believe we can build a good team, and that’s why every coach in my staff is a special story, and I’m very, very happy with that."
"How you handle defeat today determines whether you’re a winner tomorrow" — to quote a famous coach’s statement, which would fit your context as well. Do you think that’s true, since you managed to turn early defeats in your tenure into wins in the World Cup qualifiers, practically with the same team?
"You definitely learn more from defeats than from wins. That’s when you clearly see our weaknesses, tactical, mental, technical, or other. It shows which moments in the game are good, which ones we need to work on more, and how we handle pressure of any kind. We also look at and analyze the attitude toward defeats, how long it takes us to process those things, and, most importantly, how realistic we are with ourselves. From defeats, we try to draw certain lessons, to trust the process we’re on, and to send the message to the players that defeats are part of their maturity and development.
After the big loss against Germany, which for us was a huge experience, we managed, in a short period, to motivate the team, balance certain things, see where we were making mistakes, and realized that we simply shouldn’t fear anyone because we can match any opponent. We showed that three days later against the Netherlands, which is at the same level as Germany, where we played an excellent, brave game. All that contributed to us going through these qualifiers with a dose of confidence and belief that we can do big things. Even the loss in Slovenia gave us some answers; we saw that we can ‘throw’ some players into the deep end, so to speak, to see how they’d react. Those things are very important in the process of building a national team."
Finally, what kind of national team, with what style of play, do you want to create and one day leave behind?
"It’s hard to talk about a style of play after just a year. Naturally, every coach, including me, has some idea of how he’d like to play. Now a new generation of national team players is maturing, so I won’t talk about style. My biggest wish is to have intensity and continuity in our game. On the pitch, I want fighting spirit and maximum commitment from every individual. The will factor must never be in question because playing for your country should be everyone’s greatest pride, joy, and motivation. Systems do matter, but they’re created depending on the players you have. We insist on the idea of togetherness and unity, the idea of continuity, creating a winning mentality and responsibility. It’s important for us to restore the image and the cult of the national team, and I’d like to give our fans an attractive team that everyone wants to watch."
