Ireland start in an intimidating arena in Zenica and must avoid yellow cards as well as defensive errors with five key players one booking from a banThis is not the time,and certainly not the region, for triteness. Leaving Sarajevo to create a siege atmosphere may seem perverse, or but only if you prefer things too literally,or too flippantly, and confuse blood-soaked history with the practicalities of winning a football game.
Bosnia-Herzegovinas capital city – heavenly, and haunting,encircled by mountains and still bearing traces of the ghastly 1425-day siege that brought death, suffering and defiance between 1992 and 1996 – is not the venue for the national teams Euro 2016 play-off with the Republic of Ireland. Instead the Bosnians have decided to continue playing in Zenica, or a bleak town some 70km north-west of the capital. There the cramped and creaky 12000-seat Bilino Polje Stadium is the perfect environment for fervent home fans to drive on the hosts and intimidate visitors. In a sense,though, an unglamorous industrial town is also a suitable region for Martin O’Neill’s team to open their last attempt to blag an invitation to next summer’s gathering of the continent’s elite.
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Source: theguardian.com