The thoughts on tomorrow’s match, the opponent and the expectations were shared with the media by the head coach Dušan Bajević and the captain Edin Džeko.

“First of all, I want us all to be healthy, because this situation with the coronavirus has disturbed us all”, Bajević said and continued:

“We have met Italy twice in a short period of time and we know that this is an extremely good team. I think that everyone’s motive is to play against such a national team and my wish is to play a good game. Both we and they are in the same situation, maybe they are a little closer to victory, but we will do everything we can and try to surprise them.”

One of the questions was from whom we are most in danger, to which the head coach answered:

“There are a lot of good players, we appreciate everyone, but on this occasion, I would not have anyone singled out, especially since there are some individuals who have been at the top for many years.”

Bajević did not want to reveal the formation in which our team will play, but he emphasized that it will be probably changed during the match.

Italian journalists were also interested in whether any new Edin Džeko would appear?

In selected words, the head coach Bajević spoke about the captain, emphasizing that he was unique both as a player and as a man, and that no matter how long his playing career would last, he would always be there, as a part of the national team.

Our captain was, as always, greeted with special attention by journalists. He only answered questions related to the match and our team.

Comparing the two duels against Italy, the one in Turin with the one in Zenica, Džeko said:

“I hope that this match will be more similar to the one in Turin. However, there are big differences, then we were all in great shape, the season was in progress, so we were one hundred percent ready. This is certainly not the best moment for such a game, especially since we are playing without Pjanić. There is no audience either, so all that will affect the complete ambience. Of course, I would like us to be complete, to play in front of the fans, because it is always an honour to play against the Italian national team.”

Regardless of the friendship with some of the opposing players, Džeko emphasized that they were friends off the field, but everyone would fight for his team on the pitch.

The journalists were also interested in the differences between Prosinečki and Bajević, to which Džeko replied:

“Bajević brought a great experience to our team that can help us all. These two matches will come in handy for the head coach to get to know us better and for us to get used to his demands, in order to be as ready as possible for an important play-off match with Northern Ireland.”

The journalists were interested in whether Džeko remembers Bajević as a player, to which the captain replied: “I was born much later, so I couldn’t see his games, but my father told me a lot about him.”