Barbarez, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s coach, won’t feel sorry for his players after Switzerland piled on four goals in the final 30 minutes, clinching a 4-1 victory in Inglewood, California, on Thursday.
Barbarez, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s coach, won’t feel sorry for his players after Switzerland piled on four goals in the final 30 minutes, clinching a 4-1 victory in Inglewood, California, on Thursday.
Nothing left the net before halftime and the deadlock held for an hour as Bosnia dug in deep against a possession‑heavy Swiss side. Johan Manzambi broke it, hammering in a volley in the 74th minute, just three minutes after coming off the bench.
Then Bosnia went down to 10 men. Referee Joao Pinheiro showed defender Tarik Muharemovic a red in the 80th minute after he hauled down Breel Embolo as the last defender.
Ruben Vargas added a second goal for Switzerland in the 82nd minute, then set up Manzambi for another goal in the 90th minute. Bosnia struck back in the 93rd minute through Ermin Mahmic, who had just come on the field. But the game was already decided. The last goal was scored by Xhaka from a penalty seven minutes into stoppage time.
Barbarez urged his squad to keep their heads up, not dwell on the defeat. "We will not whine now," the Bosnia coach said.
Murat Yakin said the double change after the second hydration break was the decisive move. "It was very important that we had all of our energy on the pitch. This was our strategy," the Swiss coach told reporters. "We needed to be very patient and stay in the game. It was important that after the second hydration break we changed some things..."
Yakin admitted he’d held Vargas back on purpose, "I told Vargas I would bring him on as soon as the opponents started to get more tired," he said. "We brought him on at the right time. Today it was a tactical decision." He praised 20‑year‑old Manzambi, the Freiburg striker who netted twice, "He is a very happy person with so many football qualities," Yakin said.
That loss showed a flaw that keeps haunting them. All five goals Bosnia have conceded across their two group games have come after the 70th minute, including the equaliser in their opening 1-1 draw with Canada.
Switzerland bounced back after that shocking 1-1 draw with Qatar in the opener and now they have four points, sitting second in Group B. This means they have a genuine chance for a fourth straight knockout‑phase run.
They're back on 24 June. Switzerland take on Canada, and Bosnia go up against Qatar hoping for a win to stay alive. After two rounds Bosnia are stuck on one point, the same as Qatar.
