SOCCER: Bosnia boss refuses to apologise to Cooper for Tahirovic non-selection claims

Bosnia-Herzegovina manager Sergej Barbarez has refused to apologize to Danish club Brondby's Welsh manager Steve Cooper after suggesting he benched midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic ahead of Thursday’s World Cup playoff semi-final against Wales in Cardiff.

Brondby defended their decision, saying Tahirovic’s absence in the last two matches was a collective choice by the coaching staff and management, with no connection to national team commitments.

Media reports on Tuesday indicated that Tahirovic personally reached out to Cooper to apologize for the controversy, while Brondby sporting director Benjamin Schmedes contacted Barbarez to clarify the club’s position.

Despite this, Barbarez maintained that his comments were intended to protect the player. “I don’t think I should apologize for anything,” he told reporters on Wednesday in Cardiff. “The only important thing for me is that I trust my players. The idea of all this was to create a puzzle for you, so you can think about all these things. I had the idea to protect the player. That’s where all this talking came from.”

Barbarez also emphasized that the focus should remain on the upcoming match. “I’ve known Benjamin for the last two years, and I know what a good player he is and how he can be. So I think we should concentrate on the match, which is the most important thing for both teams.”

Wales will host Bosnia-Herzegovina for a spot in the home playoff final against either Italy or Northern Ireland. Bosnia is aiming to qualify for the World Cup finals for the second time, having first done so in 2014, while Wales qualified for the tournament in Qatar in 2022.

-Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus/Reuters