Sergej Barbarez spent years telling anyone who would listen how he would change Bosnian football, and the Bosnian national team in particular.
The former forward, who featured for several Bundesliga clubs in his playing days before becoming a professional poker player, was a regular on Bosnian TV and earned a reputation for being outspoken in his views.
So one day the Bosnian FA called his bluff. They appointed Barbarez national team manager and gave him the license to overhaul the set-up.
Two years later, Bosnia and Herzegovina are playing in only their second-ever World Cup and Barbarez has been vindicated. One man’s agenda proved to be the roadmap for the national team’s revival.
