The U-17 team players of Bosnia and Herzegovina have their preparations already the third day in the Zenica Training Centre for the qualifying tournament, which they will take part in next week in Skopje. Our U-17 players held one training session today, and they also supported the women’s U-17 team at their match with Greece.

The head coach, Sakib Malkočević, says about preparations:

“There are players who did not arrive, due to their obligations to the clubs this weekend, and we could count on them only in Macedonia. In this regard, it is a good thing that we invited more players to the gathering than we will be able to use on the tournament. I hope that those who are late will be healthy and ready for the tournament. These absences are the only problem. The present guys work well, they are ready. We will use this period in Zenica to correct some of the mistakes we made in the preparation matches.”

Malkočević expects to be qualified to the elite round:

“It will not be easy in qualifications, especially in the first match against Macedonia, which has high ambitions. However, we also have our own calculations. Our goal is to go to the elite round and we will do everything to achieve it. All teams want to go further, they all have quality, but if we are at our level, I expect success in this tournament. All of us must give our maximum to pass the first round, and then we will have enough time to get ready for the next stage of the competition.”

The BH U-17 players will have preparations in Zenica until Saturday, when they will travel to Skopje early morning. Opponents in the qualifications will be Macedonia, Moldova and Slovakia.