Barbarez Declines to Apologize Over Comments to Cooper
Sergei Barbarez, appointed as the Bosnia-Herzegovina national football team manager in April 2024, has refused to apologize to Brondby’s Welsh manager Steve Cooper regarding his contentious remarks made before their World Cup play-off match in Cardiff on Thursday.
Barbarez had accused Cooper of excluding midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic from the Danish side ahead of the qualifier, a claim that Brondby officials have denied.
It is reported that Tahirovic has since reached out to Cooper to offer an apology. When asked if he would reciprocate, Barbarez responded:
"I don't think I should apologise for anything."
The former Bosnia-Herzegovina striker suggested that his comments were intentionally provocative to divert attention from the 23-year-old player, who formerly played for Roma and Ajax.
"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," said Barbarez.
"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 tomorrow's match, which is the most important thing for both teams."
Reactions and Club Response
Earlier in the day, Cooper’s predecessor at Brondby, Craig Bellamy, dismissed the controversy, noting he had not communicated with Cooper since the latter’s appointment in September 2025.
Brondby’s communications director, Soren Hanghoj, refuted Barbarez’s allegations, stating that Tahirovic’s omission was a "club decision" and remarked:
"And there are not that many Wales fans in Brondby after all."
Match Context and Team Preparations
A significant number of Bosnian supporters are expected to attend the match at Cardiff City Stadium, where Bosnia-Herzegovina must defeat Wales to maintain their pursuit of a World Cup berth—their first since 2014.
The victor in Cardiff will secure a home final against the winner of the Italy versus Northern Ireland fixture scheduled for Tuesday, 31 March.
Currently ranked 71st globally, Bosnia-Herzegovina narrowly missed automatic qualification after conceding a late goal in a decisive group match against Austria in Vienna.
"We cannot compare these two games, against Wales and Austria," Barbarez commented.
"We took some conclusion from the Austria game and we have spoken about it for three days about the experience we have taken from it.
"We have a plan and every eventuality is covered, including penalties and extra time. We are optimistic. These are the games you play football for."
Squad Insights and Player Comments
The squad traveling to Cardiff includes 40-year-old former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, though his starting position is not assured.
Nikola Katic, Dzeko’s teammate at Schalke and formerly of Rangers and Plymouth Argyle, shared his perspective:
"The atmosphere these kind of matches here is always brilliant and we will give our best.
"This is a serious team we are playing against, but we will play our own game and we are prepared for every eventuality.
"We have not had much success as a nation in the play-offs before but that is not important for us; it is new for a lot of our players and our team is much stronger than previous sides."
