Tonight Israel host Bosnia in their third Euro 2016 qualifying match. Did you know that . . .
The only time Israel and Bosnia have met was in the qualifying stages of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. Israel, under Danish head coach Richard Møller Nielsen, beat the Bosnians 3-1 In the home leg at the National Stadium in Ramat Gan. The return leg in Sarajevo ended in a goalless draw.
Under the current head coach, local hero of Paris Saint-Germain fame Safet Susic, Bosnia reached the play-off stage of the qualifiers for Euro 2012, where they were sent packing by Portugal. In the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil the Bosnians went one better: They finished top of their group with eight wins, one draw and only a single loss. At the finals themselves, however, things did not go so easily. They lost their first two matches to Argentina and Nigeria but did manage their first World Cup final win against Iran in their last group-stage encounter.
In the first three matches of the current campaign the Bosnians have only managed to score twice, one goal from Stuttgart striker Vedad Ibisevic against Cyprus and a second by Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko against Belgium. Due to injury, neither of them has made the trip to Israel.
The referee for tonight's match, the Spaniard Antonio Mateu Lahoz, has pointed at the spot eight times in the 36 international matches he's overseen and all eight of them were for the home side. In the same period he's only given one red card, and that to a member of the visiting team.
In club football, ten matches have been played between Israeli and Bosnian teams and so far it's clearly been a case of good news for the Israelis: Eight wins, one draw and only one loss, by Maccabi Haifa against FK Borac Banja Luka. For their part Maccabi Tel Aviv have only known joy in their two encounters with Bosnian sides, beating FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo both home and away in the second round of the 2011/12 season Europa League qualifiers. The result at home: 6-0!
The Bosnian player best known to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans is midfielder Haris Medunjanin, who spent two seasons at the club between 2010 and 2012. He's featured in all three of Bosnia's qualifying matches so far and on each occasion managed to get off one shot on goal. He's been fouled once and committed one himself.
Bosnian goalkeeper and vice-captain Asmir Begovic has already won a match in Israel when his current club, English Premier League side Stoke City, visited Tel Aviv on matchday 4 of the group stage of the season 2011/12 Europa League and won 1-2. His goalkeeping duties for the national team started only during the qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup finals, during which time he kept four clean sheets.
Bosnian winger Edin Visca has also played in Israel, and in the same season too, but fared far worse than his international team-mate Begovic. He came in off the bench in both the home and away leg of Zeljeznicar's ill-fated second-round Europa League qualifier against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Visca is now into his fourth season at Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir F.K.
Only three players in the current Bosnian squad actually ply their club trade on the home front and so far they've only made two international appearances between them. As for the Israeli squad, the expectation is that only three players playing outside Israel will be in the first eleven tonight at Haifa's "Sammy Ofer" Stadium, with Charlton Athletic defender and Israel captain Tal Ben Haim and CSKA Moscow midfielder Bibras Natkho the current squad's record-holders where international appearances are concerned.
Five Maccabi Tel Aviv players are expected to take part in the action this evening. In the home tie against Portugal in Israel's last International campaign, no less than six Maccabi Tel Aviv players featured in the match, with two more sitting it out on the bench.
