Bosnia boss refuses to apologise to Steve Cooper over Benjamin Tahirovic row | OneFootball

Bosnia and Herzegovina manager Sergej Barbarez has refused to apologise to Brondby boss Steve Cooper after controversially claiming he dropped his player Benjamin Tahirovic from club action to bolster Wales’ World Cup bid.

The dispute comes ahead of a crucial play-off semi-final in Cardiff on Thursday where Wales will host Bosnia.

Barbarez had accused Cooper of attempting to aid his native Wales, claims that were swiftly rebuffed by Brondby.

The club insisted that the decision to sideline key Bosnia midfielder Tahirovic was purely a club matter.

Tahirovic subsequently issued an apology to Cooper for his manager’s remarks.

However, Barbarez remained unrepentant upon his arrival in Cardiff, stating he had created a "puzzle" for people to consider.

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Benjamin Tahirovic issued an apology to Cooper for his manager’s remarks (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

“I don’t think I should apologise for anything,” Barbarez said at his pre-match press conference.

“The only important thing for me is that I trust my players and the idea of all this was to create a puzzle for you, so you can think about all these things.

“I had the idea to protect the player. That’s where all this talking was from.

“I’ve known Benjamin for the last two years and I know what a good player he is and how he can be.

“So I think we should concentrate on the match, which is the most important thing for both teams.”

Bosnia are 71st in the world rankings and 35 places below Wales, but were within 13 minutes of qualifying for the World Cup in November as group winners.

An Austria equaliser in Vienna ended that hope and sent them to the play-offs instead.

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Brondby’s Welsh boss Steve Cooper (Bradley Collyer/PA)

But Bosnia – whose only previous World Cup appearance came at Brazil in 2014 – have not lost in four games against Wales, recording two wins and two draws.

Barbarez added: “This is the type of game we all play football for and everyone is fit and ready to go.

“We can not compare these two games, against Wales and Austria.

“We took some conclusion from the Austria game, which was quite an experience.

“We have a good chance due to that experience.

“We have a plan and every eventuality is covered, including penalties and extra-time. We are optimistic.”