Medunjanin will be part of Bosnia’s late World Cup push
CHESTER » One Union player has a door-die game for his World Cup hopes this week that everyone knows about. But there’s another flying under the radar.
Many eyes will be on the United States, which needs a pair of results to position itself for the World Cup. Sunday, Bruce Arena called Alejandro Bedoya to its squad.
But less hyped is the battle that Haris Medunjanin will take part in with Bosnia & Herzegovina, which likely needs a pair of wins to clinch a spot in a two-leg playoff for the final spots in UEFA’s World Cup delegation.
“It’s an honor to play for my country,” the midfielder said after a 2-0 win over Seattle Sunday that featured two Medunjanin assists. “… If we win two games, we’re going to be in the playoffs for the World Cup for next year, so I’m very excited to be there, to see my family.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina is situated second in Group H with 14 points from eight games. Belgium (22 points) has clinched the automatic spot into the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while Bosnia is vying with Greece (13 points) and Cyprus (10) for the second spot, which would advance to one of four two-leg playoffs in the second round in November.
Bosnia hosts Belgium Saturday before traveling to Tallinn to take on fifth-placed Estonia next Tuesday. Two wins will get Bosnia into the playoffs; anything less against Belgium leaves the door open for Greece, which travels to Cyprus before a certain three points against winless bottom-dwellers Gibraltar.
The Belgium matchup is tricky. The Red Devils are ranked fifth in the latest FIFA World Rankings, in the midst of a golden generation where competition for the 23 spots on the plane to Russia next summer is fierce. Even if stars are rested, a bevy of talents are waiting to state their cases.
“Belgium has like three sides that can be top three in the world,” Medunjanin said. “The worst thing is when you put some other guys in, they want to show themselves so they’re going to give 200 percent to win the game. I think they want to win the game for the fair play because they’ve won all their games, so why are they going to let us win? We need to step up and we play against a good squad but we play at home so we have our people behind us.”
Medunjanin, who has 55 caps, was called up in June but didn’t play. He scored in the group opener against Estonia last September, a 5-0 win. The Dragons were trounced, 4-0, in Brussels a year ago.
Bedoya was among 18 MLS players in Bruce Arena’s 26-man squad. The U.S. faces a must-have game Friday in Orlando against Panama, then travels to Trinidad and Tobago for the hexagonal finale.
The U.S. (2-3-3, 9 points) is fourth, a spot which would draw them into an intercontinental two-leg playoff against the fifth-place team from Asia in November to get into the World Cup. The opponent, Syria or Australia, will be decided in a two-leg series this week.
Panama (2-5-2, 10 points) occupies the final automatic spot, while Honduras (2-3-3, 9 points) is fifth, though the U.S. holds an eight-goal edge on goal differential. After leaving Orlando, Panama hosts second-place Costa Rica. Honduras travels to Costa Rica before visiting Mexico, which has clinched the top spot.
Bedoya, who has 64 caps, was an unused sub in disastrous September results against Honduras and Costa Rica.
Goalkeeper Andre Blake was called by Jamaica for a friendly in Saudi Arabia Saturday. The captain has 30 caps and most recently helped the Reggae Boyz to the final of the 2017 Gold Cup, where he earned the Golden Gloves as the tournament’s top keeper.
Warren Creavalle will meet up with Guyana, which takes on Grenada Friday. Creavalle, who missed Sunday with a hamstring strain, has three caps, the Acworth, Ga., native debuting at the end of last season.
Medunjanin, who was in Bosnia’s 2010 World Cup side, knows how high the stakes are. He hopes a veteran core that went through that battle will rise to the occasion.
“We are experienced guys who played there and played a lot of big games, so I hope everybody is ready and we’re going to step up for this game and beat the Belgium squad, especially at our place,” he said. “With the crowd behind us, it can be hell for other teams.”