Not many people believed Bosnia-Herzegovina could win in Belgium last night. But coach Miroslav Blažević was in that small number, and a 4-2 success and second place in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 5 was the reward.Scratch team
Injuries robbed Blažević of goalkeeper Kenan Hasagić, forward Vedad Ibišević and midfielders Sejad Salihović and Elvir Rahimić in Genk, meaning Nemanja Supić made his debut between the posts and Zlatan Bajramović made a comeback after 18 months ruled out. But Bajramović was to score, along with Edin Džeko, Sanel Jahić and Zvezdjan Misimović, and a repeat in the return against Belgium in Zenica on Wednesday would leave Bosnia-Herzegovina a strong position to reach the play-offs to earn a first final tournament qualification.
Will to win
"We had to win this match if we wanted to stay in the running for the 2010 World Cup," Blažević said. "We started with a series of attacks, and soon took the lead. My players didn't give up when Belgium equalised [with 25 minutes left]. They found enough strength to score three times for a big victory." But the job is not done yet. "There won't be any relaxing on Wednesday," the coach added. "I'm convinced that it will be even harder than in Genk. Still we have enough strength and quality to beat Belgium again,"
Džeko delight
His side have managed 16 goals in their five qualifiers so far, and Džeko managed his fifth of the campaign in Belgium. "The most important is that we are scoring," the VfL Wolfsburg striker said. "We have one of the best forward lines and we will continue with more goals on Wednesday and, hopefully, with a win to satisfy our fans "
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