The Shocking Downfall of Bosnia's National Team

[@nathanb286]

To be fair to Bosnia, when they were 13th in the world, Colombia were 3rd in the world and Greece were 11th in the world. They aren’t alone in having a massive drop off in the last 10 years

[@packrunnernes]

The problem with greek football is that it's full of corruption and very poor (the most expensive greek club is olympiacos who's worth about 110 mil €, which is less than midtable championship clubs) so youth development is very much stunted

[@siphesihlejiyana9242]

Even South Africa too but it's been over a longer period of time

[@GeoKk7]

The fall of Greek football is even more tragic, considering how we miserably failed to capitalise on the Euro 04 success. While the 04-14 decade was also successful, 2 World Cup appearances (in 14 lost on penalties at round of 16) and 2 Euros appearances (lost in the QF at Euro 12) it happened with a team based around players that were in the Euro 04 and also a good generation of players after them. We let our academies to rot and didn’t (still don’t) produce good players with rare exceptions. Also the entire system is rotten and corrupt. Players who don’t deserve to play get picked by managers-pawns instead of good young players and the clubs prefer foreign agent picked players (majority of them are past their peak) instead of trusting their youth.

[@ja1295]

​@@packrunnerneswell that and the best greek teams refuse to play youbg greek players and buy old players from abroad

[@packrunnernes]

@@ja1295 true but there's a few good greek lads that are in the spotlight now, keep an eye out for Ioannidis, Vagiannidis and Konstantelias

[@fadyy.]

Yes thank you for recognizing our downfall the corruption inside our country is also destroying our football we have been suffering for nearly 8 years

[@tarik6990]

More like 30+ years.

[@btf_flotsam478]

To be fair, it is mostly self-inflicted. Coming from a nation that is proud of doing multiculturalism right, you guys need to learn how to recognize that you're wrong.

[@tarik6990]

@@btf_flotsam478 What are we wrong about?

[@mrstrangekind8077]

@@btf_flotsam478 Touche! Bravo for your comment. I say that as a native Bosnian.

[@mrstrangekind8077]

Well, corruption is tearing apart even FIFA, UEFA, FFP, Blater, Platini, Infantino, Qatar, Seria A,... and yet, the football is only growing. Free advice: try to train harder, and complain less, and the results will come. Complaining and autochauvinism has become an integral part of bosnian national identity over the years. Imagine video about West German footbal from 1975. composed of politics and WWII pictures. That`s the difference.

[@davidbowie5023]

We Irish used to play them back in 2015 for a place in Euro 2016. The Bosnians were tough but we sensed something wrong when they could not even penetrate against our Irish side that was depleted due to injuries and suspensions. Never imagine their downfall so quickly.

[@filiplovrinovic8672]

Before Lazio-Inter match, Senad Lulić, Bosnia NT player, said this to Handanović: "Here national team is basically like a vacation. You eat cakes, spend time with family, gifts... Then matches arrive and you are dead out there. Thats how it was in Bosnia."

[@adi862]

To je realno stanje Bosne kao države, svi su se sa tim pomirili.

[@medijajozzy1356]

Ne seri

[@ademmustajbasic6465]

@@medijajozzy1356 Lulić se pravdao poslije da nije tako mislio.

[@sejozwak]

@@adi862 pa kad si dijasporoid onda jest

[@adi862]

@@sejozwak ja zivim u Bih

[@thewildformosanformosan]

They were robbed at 2014 World Cup too, when Dzeko had a perfectly good goal against Nigeria ruled out for incorrect offside

[@tarik6990]

Yes with VAR we likely would have made it to the round of 16.

[@evaldsinanovic8437]

Not to mention the goal Nigeria scored was scored from a faul commitment on spahic. So perfectly onside goal taken away and then 20 minutes later Nigeria scored through a faul on spahic in the box

[@WhereDafuq]

I was travelling in Bosnia & Herzegovina just a few weeks ago. They certainly love their football - the Sarajevo derby was complete madness.

[@Oliver-c5v2b]

Which places did you visit? How was your stay?

[@WhereDafuq]

@@Oliver-c5v2b Mostar, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Blagaj, Pocitelj, Kravica, Travnik, Jajce etc. The only game I managed to watch was the Sarajevo vs Zeljo one - but Mostar seemed like a real football town too. You can't walk more than a few metres without seeing Velez graffiti or murals. Absolutely loved the country - will be back again one day.

[@Oliver-c5v2b]

@@WhereDafuq wow I’m glad you liked it, you’re always welcome!!

[@WhereDafuq]

@@Oliver-c5v2b Hvala!

[@tarik6990]

@@WhereDafuq You're always welcomed, thank you for visiting :) Good on you to have gone to Travnik and Jajce, not all tourists know about those two towns.

[@xvbnihfuilnllpjgxnjitgvbsy]

As a fan of the Finnish national team, who have faced Bosnia 6 times in the last 4 years, I've started to like them quite a bit. I'm really hoping that things will improve for them, although after watching this video I'm suddenly less optimistic about the prospects of that happening.

[@tarik6990]

It's been a negative spiral for 10 years now, the only positive thing in our football right now is our women's national team.

[@arnelkopic7]

As a bosnian I also started to like the finish team. It starts to feel like a derby. See you in the playoffs!

[@mr.x491]

Ahhh good old teemu pukki

[@MjauMjau-y3s]

Thank you ❤

[@benjaminmalagic3153]

We might meet again in the play off

[@destanl9320]

The corruption in the Bosnian league is crazy, you should just see the standings in the 2007/2008 championship, the relegated team Jedinstvo Bihac had 12 wins from 30 games, and there were almost no draws the whole season, if you were playing at home you would get the win 100%. We use to say if Real Madrid came to Bihac they would lose 3-0

[@tarik6990]

That was 15 years ago, you don't see that as much today.

[@Maximilian1990]

I'm still laughing at the Real Madrid thing

[@boryolmung9548]

Ok why Zepce is have a 7 points while while Point difference between Bihac and Modrica is just 15? is Zepce are the only one who doesn't corrupt?

[@FKS1946]

@@boryolmung9548 they were so weak that they even weren't able to win matches at home

[@AIeksejs]

I always had a soft spot for Bosnia. Growing up in a small Frisian town a population made up of only Frisians and 2 Bosnian families who moved there because of the war. These where the nicest and most welcoming people. but i only realised they where not Frisian very late because they learned the language so quick 😅

[@903lew]

Never met a Bosnian I didn’t get along with. Nice people with great food, just don’t try to get them to admit that they’re wrong 😂

[@alfredoangel2359]

Lived in Georgia (US state) my whole life and never knew that there was a pretty big Bosnian population here until Mexico played against Bosnia in Atlanta in 2011, seems like they are mostly concentrated in and around Lawrenceville.

[@adi862]

@@alfredoangel2359in USA, there is like 100k Bosniaks in Saint Louis and a lot of Bosniaks in Jacksonville Florida.

[@treinvirm5836]

wij zijn ook in friesland geweest in het AZC in dokkum na de oorlog in bosnie heel veel aardige mensen leren kennen waar we nogsteeds contact mee hebben

[@amarson2322]

thats true, there is a lot of Bosnians in Florida@@adi862

[@echarts3710]

It's crazy how three ex-Yugoslav countries had a better World Cup records than Euros. Croatia had one silver medal and two bronze medals in World Cup, but never passed beyond quarter final in Euros. Serbia qualified to World Cup three times but never to Euros. And Bosnia & Herzegovina managed to be one of the qualified 13 teams, but never to be one of the qualified 24 teams.

[@rafaelcarvalho9031]

Even Slovenia have qualified for more World Cups than European Championshps. It really is strange considering that the Euros is supposedly easier.

[@PARTIZANREPORT]

corrupion match fixing most likely@@rafaelcarvalho9031

[@alfredoangel2359]

North Macedonia = 1 Euro appearance Montenegro = nothing Kosovo = nothing

[@1998Haris]

I actually think it’s easier to qualify for the EUROS, because chances are that a good football nation won’t fear serious competition. Come the group stage, it’s not uncommon to have two very good national teams in one single group. This pattern continues and the difficulty increases significantly. Qualifying for the WC is equally easy, but getting through the GS as well since there are teams from other continents that are generally weaker compared to European countries. So the path to glory is easier at the WC than at the Euros.

[@serbianwarrior385]

​@@alfredoangel2359Bro said Kosovo 😂😂

[@jamesthomashtunkyaw5682]

As a Burmese myself, you can also relate it to the ongoing downfall of Myanmar national football team. From once a rising football nation in Asia in the 1950-70, then we hoped to rise again since opening up in 2010s. Yet they are all destroyed by the corrupt governments of the generals and now we are still having no major competition since 1968.

[@saminahmed5054]

Hey bro i am from Bangladesh, we heard about a lot of civil unrest in myanmar,is the situation stable anywhat at the moment?

[@jamesthomashtunkyaw5682]

@@saminahmed5054 No. The only stable places are the three biggest cities under the junta terrorists (Yangon, Naypyidaw, Mandalay), where their troops are concentrated. But the rest is like a war zone. Simply put we trust nothing on it at all.

[@aidanjanemcintosh6919]

this might be unrelated, but may I ask something else? You mentioned that you are Burmese, but why do you use Myanmar to mention the country (and not Burma)? I remember learning at school that the name was writting like this: "Burma (now Myanmar)". Or was it the other way around (Myanmar (now Burma))?

[@jamesthomashtunkyaw5682]

@@aidanjanemcintosh6919 Well it is both legal, although due to historical issue, the use of "Burmese" persist. There is no consensus on how to use "Myanmar citizens" be like, some favouring Myanmarese while some just Myanma.

[@jeronjoseph5691]

@@jamesthomashtunkyaw5682 Dude, is the life of christians and other minorities very difficult under the junta?

[@mudzero5884]

🇧🇬 🇧🇬 🇧🇬 Day 2 - Alfie, please do a video on the pitiful situation the Bulgarian national football team is currently in. Here are a couple of points to give you an idea about what I'm talking about: - Currently, the team is in a streak of 8 winless games, at the bottom of its qualification group for the 2024 Euro, with no chances of qualifying, after losing to opponents such as Montenegro and Lithuania. - The team's last win was almost a year ago - on 16.11.2022 in a friendly against Cyprus. Our last win in an official match was more than a year ago - on 26.09.2022 against North Macedonia. - The national football team of Bulgaria has been constantly performing bad for at least the last 20 years. The last big tournament we played was the 2004 Euro in Portugal, where we were humiliated in the group stage. - Many supporters blame the current bosses of the Bulgarian Football Union for this downfall. The most notable of them are Borislav Mihaylov, Emil Kostadinov and Yordan Lechkov - 3 players who were part of the great 1994 WC team which reached the semi-finals of the tournament. Sadly, those people's success as players has been overshadowed by their lack of capability or willingness to resolve many of the problems in our football - the out-of-date training systems, the poor football infrastructure etc. What's worse is that they refuse to resign a failure after another and they have changed the rules of the union in a way that makes them irremovable for more than 18 years. - Recently a couple of players from the next generation - Dimitar Berbatov, Stiliyan Petrov and Martin Petrov started a campaign, trying to overthrow the aforementioned but as I said the rules are in the bosses' favour. - Meanwhile fans are getting really angry with the situation and are starting to take measures. Last weekend, during many matches of the First and Second Football Leagues the fans were chanting against Mihaylov and company and displayed banners against them. Of course, the BFU fined the clubs for "obscene chants and banners". - There is a campaign on social media calling fans of all local clubs to put their differences aside and come to the Euro qualifier with Hungary on 16.11 and show their disapproval of the current BFU leaders. That's the main points, I'm sure that if you dig a little you'll find much more. Please consider doing such a video, the anti-BFU sentiments are getting stronger and we need to disturb those self-serving ex-legends in every way possible. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@MyFootballGame]

Yeah if the topic is "National tema downfalls" the "Lions" are top 1.

[@HenryMyring-l4n]

If you know all that you can make the video yourself😂

[@thathandsomedevil0828]

I had a Bulgarian taxi driver also lament about their national football team a while ago. Felt sorry for the dude. 😂 I am from Nigeria and even we knew who Stoickov, Letchkov and Balakov were, at the time!!

[@fungalwinkerbean]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYKxknlmgaqVrs0 Maybe this will tide you over for a bit. Been a minute since I watched it, but pretty sure he touched on the national team a bit as well.

[@mudzero5884]

@user-gu2kx6jj6n Unfortunately, I don't have as much reach and reputation in that particular area as Alfie has.

[@emirporicanin9133]

As a Bosnian, the video is spot on besides the critique of Begovic, since he only spoke against the FA after things were not going his way, and to be honest his form was bad. Petev should have stayed as a manager, since we played better tactis and faster in his tenure. Realisticaly we should have qualified for 2016 and 2018 as a lot of the squad from 2014 was there.

[@ivaneurope]

Speaking of Petev - he's mocked throughout here in Bulgaria. He would be remembered for when ultras of Levski Sofia invaded the press conference announcing him as the club's manager and orderd him to take off the Levski gear he was wearing deeming that he's 'unworthy to wear the blue shirt' as in an interview done before he revealed that he was supporting Levski's main rival CSKA Sofia. After leaving the Bosnia job (previously he had shortlived spell in Dinamo Zagreb) he returned to Ludogorets (where he made a name fir himself) and it was under his watch they had their worst defeat - 7:1 at the hands of FC Nordsjaeland in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

[@ezypeazyy]

@@ivaneuropePetev was not even good at Bosnia but people just like him cause he was the best among trash coaches. Being better than trash coaches doesn‘t make you a good coach

[@mrstrangekind8077]

Can you remember time when Petev was appointed as a manager? Fans were enraged, as he was not Bosniak, and in their eyes was without exerience (Dinamo Zagreb, Ludogorets...). And after qualifying for Goup A of LoN, he was not fired (as is represented among fans), but his contract expired and did not want to extend.

[@ezypeazyy]

@@mrstrangekind8077 Sure he got group A but we played the worst qualifiers in our history under Petev lol

[@LD-wm7jm]

Mir za bosna brate sam velikobritanije ajmo bosna

[@ProStriker92]

I always have a fascination towards those "only 1 WC appearance" UEFA teams, like Czech Republic and Ukraine in 2006, Slovakia in 2010, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014, and Iceland in 2018. Aside of having golden generations, makes you wonder why the didn't achieved more. In perspective, this make Slovenia making not once, but twice the WC between 2002 and 2010 even more impressive.

[@anteveic327]

Czech R. did achieve some great results at euros though, their golden generation would be the one from 1996 although they somehow failed to qualify to WCs

[@rumblebird9888]

Romania and Bulgaria had strong teams in 1994

[@jcardboard]

Czech Republic only having one appearance is one of those strange anomalies, they were one of the strongest European teams for a while, sorta like (although probably not quite as strong as) the Croatian team of the last few tournaments

[@thedamntrain8700]

Ukraine had terrible luck. The USSR national team mainly consisted of Ukrainians in 1988 when they reached the final stage of Euro 1988. People in Ukraine had high expectations about Dynamo Kyiv and the national team after gaining independence, but Russia got two extra years + achievements + ranking points. So, the russians did what what they do best - steal. Any prospect player from Ukraine could receive russian passport and an offer to play for the national team while the Ukrainian Association of Football wasn't even recognized by FIFA or UEFA. It was an obvious choice for young players if they thought only about their careers. We had to start from scratch and as a result, we had really strong opponents in our first qualification groups. Our first qualification started in 1994. We lost almost everyone from our semi-final squad. For the EURO 1996, we competed against Italy and Croatia + Lithuania and Slovenia weren't the weakest teams at the time. Compare it to Russia which didn't have to compete against any of the top-tier national teams (sorry Scotland). For the Champions League we had a similar situation where we started from the preliminary rounds or had Barcelona in first leg when the russians competed against the strongest team in the world - FC Skonto. So, the 90s were tough we had a really small chance of making it to the tournament. We were the second best in the group with Germany and Portugal for the 1998 WC but weren't able to make it to the playoffs as we were the worst of the second teams. For the 2000 Euro we were able to finish in second place in the group with France and Russia. France had 21 points and we had 20. In playoffs, we got Slovenia but lost due to an error of our young GK Shovkovskiy. In 00s there was a Germany in 2002 playoffs, a mess during 2002-2004 (political instability + lack of coach), Italy, England and Scotland in 2008 qualification and a real tragedy in playoffs for 2010 world cup against Greece. Thank god to UEFA which increased the number of teams in the final stage of EURO.

[@TwoPoachedEggs]

Slovakia had a good 6 year run of qualifying for '08 and '12 Euros as well as the 2010 world cup. That coincided with the prime of our best ever player, Marek Hamšik. Currently we're a point from Euro 2024 qualification, and with an expanded 2026 world cup, Slovakia might be there!

[@k0zargamng851]

Truly are the peoples channel. Thank you for making this fantastic video detailing my national teams decline as well as the other half of my comment on Velez and Zrinjski, all while talking about the state of the country itself. Bosnia is and has been always in quite the predicament, it's a beautiful country that is still hurting and scared from something that didn't happen all too long ago. The national team did for a while bring some hope and inspiration, I remember when we beat Belgium 5-2 right before the start to their golden generation. It felt like maybe our golden generation has a chance. I'm not saying I expected to go out and win the euros or World Cup, like perhaps what was exoected out of that Belgium team, but I did hope or expect more from them at times. I just wanted them to go out there and compete. Yet the FA and the rampant corruption within Bosnia ultimately decided their fate. Unfortunately unsurprising that it turned out that way. Optimism tends to disappear rather quickly at times, from what I've seen in Bosnia, there was some hope after the war ended that we could rebuild and heal, but that never quite happened. The same way that we never quite reached what we thought we could achieve. Instead, much like Bosnia itself, watched stagnation and decline. A quite perfect illustration of what Bosnia is, yet a small glimpse of what could've been

[@HanOle12]

I went to Bosnia this summer and saw Velez against Siroki Brijeg and Siroki's fans were just as extreme as you described here. You didn't have to know anything about them to know that they were fascists. You could just tell.

[@tarik6990]

Thank you for going there and seeing it for yourself as a foreigner.

[@xax2952]

cry me a river

[@depekthegreat359]

Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of my favourite nations and national teams ever and the national team which produced the likes of two best talents who are Edin Dzeko boss,Miralem Pjanik boss and Emir Spahic boss!!!I am extremely so sad to see their downfall but I hope to see them slowly and strongly in near future,good friends!!!LONG LIVE,BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA!!!🇧🇦

[@Drunken_Master]

Are you mentally challenged?

[@davidk7k693]

Sorry mate, but bosnia didn't produce Miralem Pjanic...it was Luxembourg

[@Maximilian1990]

Dzeko and Spahic were "produced" by Slovenian/German and Croatian/Russia football systems respectively.

[@dole7959]

lol not one of those players were produced in the bosnian league

[@adi862]

@@Maximilian1990Džeko was produced by Sarajevo’s FK Zeljeznicar.

[@KristianC1994]

For future reference, j is always pronounced like y in Slavic languages, not h or j. So Sarajevo is SAR-a-ye-vo, and Banja in Banja Luka is BAN-ya. Great explanation of what's going on though :)

[@MrRafting]

Fantastic video Alfie. Never expected to see my national team in your video but I'm glad you shed a light on the millions of issues we've been having

[@erzelez9745]

As a sidenote, speaking as a Bosnian myself, I would hardly say the national team is a unifying factor in the country. The national team is mostly supported by Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and Croats usually supporting the Serbian and Croatian national teams respectively. It's not rare to see flags bearing names of Croat majority Bosnian towns in the stands at Croatia games.

[@tarik6990]

'It's not rare to see flags bearing names of Croat majority Bosnian towns in the stands at Croatia games.' Yes that's what's most pathetic. They think it makes them somehow look smart but really it makes them look incredibly dumb, like they are suffering from an inferiority complex.

[@lukask.3686]

Is the Bosnian national Team mostly Muslim or Christian? Does Religion also play a role?

[@tarik6990]

@@lukask.3686 The Bosnian national is mostly multiethnic just like the whole nation and religion plays no role whatsover.

[@erzelez9745]

@@lukask.3686 Play a role in what? The current national team is mixed, the starting 11 that played Luxembourg on Thursday had 5 muslims (judging by first name).

[@n.n.5286]

Because it is not rare to see war flags being held on the stands from the Bosniaks(Muslims). It is very tense and uncomfortable situation in which Serbs and Croats can't feel comfortable supporting team in such circumstances. Many Croatian players choose to play for Croatian national team instead of Bosnian and Herzegovinan for those reasons. War here never ended but on paper.

[@mareksnopek9474]

I've always loved Bosnia and their football, I hope they found their way to better results and greater consitency soon.

[@bojanlepic8119]

Since I'm Bosnian, it would take me.....50 days to explain why your title is not good as there is nothing 'shocking' in it. It is only shocking if you know some position on a FIFA table, some players, and a very small amount of info regarding our FA and the current situation. For us, it is absolutely not shocking :) This is a thing we saw coming for a while...the problem is to explain it to anyone NOT from former Yugoslavia.

[@nidalalispahic4657]

It was expected, the 2014 wc itself was the biggest achievement we'll ever have

[@dandaratramadol3007]

The fact is - our national team overachieved. As much as I hate Vico, Elvedin Begić was also corrupt bastard who's primary goal was not the success of national team or Bosnian football in general. It would've never happened if there weren't a lot of diaspora players who grew up and trained foitball in foreign countries, such as Pjanić (France/Luxembourg), Ibišević (United States), Begović (Canada), Kolašinac, Misimović (Germany). Even now, our biggest football prospects are born and bred somewhere else, Tahirović & Ahmedhodžić (Sweden), Demirović (Germany), Dedić (Austria). All in all, dark times are in front of us. Something seriously has to change in order for us to be respectable football nation again.

[@T.E.S.S.]

This makes zero sense. You said only people who know the basic information would find it shocking, then you said "the problem is to explain it to anyone NOT from former Yugoslavia". So that means the title is actually very good, by your own logic.

[@BlackThreath1234]

If you need 50 days maybe you aren't very good at explaining....

[@saminahmed5054]

​​@@dandaratramadol3007i hope something good happens. Your country might not have a big pool of players to choose from,but if your fa can stop all the corruption and have a great coach who can persuade the diasporic bosnians in other countries to play for the nation in a healthy team environment like morocco,things can change. Their team was in the same position in 2014 if i am not mistaken

[@ivanmatic23]

As a Croatian from the Hercegovina region, I can say this video is very informing! Great job from someone that isn’t even from the balkan region to break this down

[@ademmustajbasic6465]

The sad thing about being bosnian in Bosnia is that I don't know if you are happy that Bosnia is bad or you are just interested in football.

[@ivanmatic23]

@@ademmustajbasic6465 Croatia is who I root for first, but I don't root for Bosnia to be bad. I'm very realistic about all sports teams.

[@ademmustajbasic6465]

@@ivanmatic23 for me that's fair. Long live croatia.

[@rcw-europe]

Same here, I’m also a Croat from Herzegovina. And honestly, I support the BiH team against everyone apart from Croatia. That doesn’t mean that I hate BiH. In 2014 I was just as cheerful about BiH qualifying as about Croatia beating Turkey in the playoffs. I think what a lot of Bosniak people find hard to understand is that I can’t just switch off my Croatian identity. The way I see it, duality is just part of who I am. And I hope that one day it’ll just become an unimportant thing and we can all just respect each other.

[@kyrkosekaterinaris1328]

It's not a downfall, they just had a golden generation of players that have now aged. It's happened before and will happen again with small nations that don't have the size to keep bringing out new talent (look at Iceland). Sometimes it even happens to traditionally strong nations like Belgium in the 2000s. Eventually a new golden generation may come.

[@mafiousbj]

Indeed. If anything the shocking part was how well they took advantage of that golden generation and managed to qualify for a WC, taking full advantage of the weak qualifying group they drew.

[@ezypeazyy]

It‘s true that that generation was a lot better than what we have now but that‘s not the only reason we suck. I mean come on Luxembourg?😂 We still got several players in the top 5 leagues and should beat opponents like that with ease. The FA is corrupt

[@Alfie_1]

Iceland didn't just have a golden generation, they had a mass scandal of sexual assault and lost most of their best players, people stopped following the national team, which will create a cycle which will mean weaker teams for a long time. Golden generations aren't really real to be honest, countries like Croatia prove that, who have a tiny population yet have always been really good, or Denmark. All the countries with supposed 'golden generations' have had massive issues in their football infrastructure which are more likely the cause, such as iceland, ireland, australia, hungary (magical magyars), Austria (1930s) and so on.

[@nealdadhania3331]

@@ezypeazyy luxembourg should not be disrespected. they have invested a lot of money into football in the last 20 years and so have a 'golden generation' of players coming through, most of whom play in the top divisions across europe. bosnia may just be going through a fallow period, and luxembourg the opposite. i'm sure bosnia will soon bounce back and qualify for another major tournament (they can still make euro 2024 as well i think)

[@ezypeazyy]

@@nealdadhania3331 look I don‘t wanna disrespect anybody but be serious lol. They have 3 players who play in top 5 leagues and 2 of them are bench players. Bosnia should EASILY beat them

[@diomuda7903]

When you realised Brazil has crisis after crisis, but Brazil has never experienced a single era of downfall, whereas Uruguay, Argentina, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands have suffered downfalls in several occasions, it will be crazy. I can never understand how did Brazil, even at the worst time, still manage not to slide to downfall. Bosnia is still too tragic if I ever think about. As a Czech I was astonished by the diminishing quality of Bosnian players. We used to believe they will be tough competitors, but I guess we are wrong now.

[@saminahmed5054]

Your team is doing great btw, excited to see them in euro next year. They used to be a very good team and have been improving recently

[@jcardboard]

Brazil has such a huge pool of players to pick from, even when they have no stars they will always have solid talent most countries would love to have. Regularly produce good coaches too.

[@fegismcclaren1632]

Brazil has a disaster right now named Marquinhos. He is a double agent

[@Maximilian1990]

Bosnias recent success has been fueled by a generation of post war highly motivated diaspora players. Their newer generations don't feel the same about the Bosnian NT and prefer to go after a paycheck over establishing some invented national identity.

[@alfredoangel2359]

It’s even more amazing when you find out that the closest Brazil has had to a downfall was the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign when they lost 6 games and finished 4th place i believe behind Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador. Then we all know what happened in 2002, Brazil won 7/7 games all in regular time and became world champions.

[@bababababababa6124]

Everyone talks about Hungary’s and Bulgaria’s downfalls, but people always forgot about Bosnia. Important video 👏

[@rohithraman6488]

To be fair Hungary aren't as good as they were in the Puskas era but they haven't done too badly in the last 4-5 years

[@jcazzle]

Hungary is starting to get back on track under Marco Rossi just look at their Nations League performances like 4-0 win against England, wins against Germany and rn qualifying for the Euros again. I would say Hungary's dark times have been past ever since which was around the early 2010s and losing to Andorra in 2017 was the tip of the iceberg but since Rossi came Hungary are back on the rise😅

[@jcazzle]

Also Bulgarian football is corrupt af so it was inevitable that they would decline hard

[@daryld4457]

I literally don't know anyone who talks about Hungary or Bulgaria, downfalls or otherwise.

[@dandaratramadol3007]

Hungar has become a respectable football nation once again and kudos to them. I will always have sympathies for your country and root for you. 🇧🇦❤🇭🇺

[@seandelap8587]

Being from Ireland I can really relate to this never has our national team been so poor with a squad which is in reality mostly stacked with mid table championship players Evan Ferguson aside there really isn't too much to shout about for the Republic of Ireland

[@Micfri300]

The Irish demise is down to players being greedy though and happy to accept championship wages rather than go abroad to play though. The Bosnian demise is far more based upon corruption

[@liamK1916]

@@Micfri300also Grealish and Rice changing allegiances didn’t help.

[@NewtoBoxing]

@@liamK1916why did they ever play with Ireland other than family links?

[@zonk4817]

​@@NewtoBoxingThey weren't good enough for English Underage teams

[@Micfri300]

​@@liamK1916yes however you could still have players going abroad like Wales did like ampadu ramsay etc etc

[@luishernandezblonde]

Speaking about Dejan Lovren, I found fascinating that during the boycott against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, there was debate in Croatia about Dejan Lovren’s chance to play for the national side. This was because he was playing for Zenit and there are massive boycotts against any footballer still playing in Russia, and Croatia strongly backed Ukraine against the Russians. In Poland, Maciej Rybus was effectively booted out for not leaving Russia so people expected Croatians might do the same to Lovren. Yet this dude ended up still being summoned by Dalic and went on to contribute a major role in Croatia’s third place finish. I wonder how Croatia, a staunch Western ally, can be tolerant like that, because had Lovren been a Pole, Lovren could have been never called up to the national team again.

[@Vader74]

people in Croatia under the table love Russia but not in public,like Serbia

[@luishernandezblonde]

@@Vader74 Serbs have always been pro-Russian and they expressed openly from their cultural background: Orthodox Christians, using Cyrillic, home to many Russian emigré and has been backed by Russia since the 19th century. Croats are Catholics, and do not use Cyrillic. They are supposed to be closer to Poland and Czechia than Russia.

[@Vader74]

I am from Croatia thats the perspective,no politics

[@redknight4805]

I am from Croatia too and I think you are spewing utter nonsense.

[@Vader74]

@@redknight4805 pogledaj malo firme PPD PEVEX KONZUM ko su stvarni vlasnici, u koju trubu puše DP desnica bit će ti mnogo jasnije

[@SvenZaimovic]

Thank you Alfie for making this video! I was talking to my friend yesterday about the state of our football and said i cant wait to see HITC Sevens make a video titles “what is going on with bosnian football”. You can imagine my surprise when i opened youtube today… you pretty much said everything that needs to be said. Just one small correction - FK Zeljeznicar is not a club only for bosniak muslims, many non muslims (myself included) are fans of the club and we historically had lots of players from each ethnic group. Our current captain is a bosnian serb for instance. I hope you see why it’s offensive to even compare us to borac. Once again thank you so much for making this video, the situation is incredibly depressing and its hard to imagine better days are coming.

[@mrstrangekind8077]

Can you deny that absolute majority of Zeljeznicar fans are muslim Bosniaks? And who plays for Borac? Aren't Ziljkic and Avdukic club legends? Yet both are Bosniaks. Not to mention Croats who play for Borac.

[@Maximilian1990]

Zeljo was always seen as the "Serb" club of Sarajevo, what are you even on about

[@adi862]

@@Maximilian1990Zeljo was never a serb club, but a club of Sarajevo people

[@adi862]

@@mrstrangekind8077Alot of Serbs still root for Zeljeznicar

[@mrstrangekind8077]

@@adi862 you can't be serious. All five remaining Serbs of Sarajevo? At the same rate Bosniaks of Banja Luka support Borac. But we are talking about majority. Absolute majority.

[@MMX-00000]

Class upload Alfie!

[@TheMisterMescudi]

That Luxembourg defeat must have been a tough one for pjanic, who grew up there from about age 2 till he moved to france at 14. Plus his whole youth international career was for Luxembourg. 2:29

[@tarik6990]

Pjanic has been horrendous for the Bosnian national team ever since he made his debut in 2008.

[@caliboy09]

Bosnia should have passed group stage but the goal against Nigeria was disallowed.

[@sejn195]

Unfortunately, there is no oddity within this. Being a Bosniak, I can testify that politics are destroying the country in and outside of the FA. They dont even try to hide favouritism towards players and coaches who arent good enough. As such, our youth are better off playing for other countries, with our team comprising of diaspora for a good portion of it.

[@JesusFlores-ju3mh]

Now we need a downfall of Jamaica video. From qualifying to WC 98 to nothing. And also the downfall of Hungry from being a power house in the early days to never qualifying for a major tournament until recently.

[@johnwhittaker311]

I remember in the last year of primary school, everyone was given a team who were about to compete at the 2014 World Cup. I don’t remember who I got originally, but I know I wanted Bosnia, and was able to switch with whoever had them. I have no idea why I wanted Bosnia, but since then I have always taken a small interest in how they’re doing. I would be happy to see them return to a major tournament in the future.

[@PlaviStrumf]

i have an idea why :)

[@RuffledRowlit]

As a Bosnian and someone who cried my eyes out when we got to reach the world cup for the first time it has been rough watching how fucking horrible things have gotten... a lot of it is politics that have dragged us down as we keep switching coach's and deal with constant in-fighting with the officials in the association...

[@venturer9400]

I really appreciate these longer documentaries that cover important background and political details as well. Even though I'm from neighboring Croatia, I didn't know everything mentioned here (and indeed didn't know everything from the Dinamo Zagreb video either), so your research is to be commended. Btw, at 25:52, "eto vam" means "there you go". :p

[@stn_brat]

Can you do a video about my country Bulgaria? From semi finalists in the 1994 WC,beating the previous world Cup winner Germany,to now being ranked as 84th beat football Country in the world. This is all due to corruption in how the sport in the country is being ran for over 18 years now,by the same 2 people,that are legends in the country and were part of the 1994 team... I will really appreciate it and I think it can really be an interesting video... Cheers

[@joegallagher9238]

A lot of eastern bloc members have similar stories so it’ll be a while till he covers another one

[@petesmart1983]

Basically the fall of communism hurt sport alot in all regions as communism tried to use sport to promote there power. Now everywere in in decline not just in football. Things like athletics, gymnastics, basketball etc

[@sjuric2435]

I read Berbatov's interview after you lost from Latvia. He says that the corrupt ignorant should leave Bulgarian football immediately. I hope you will find the right path and come back, it takes time, it's a process, it's not easy. It's not much better here either, now we have results, so everything is good, as long as it's like that, nothing will change even though they are corrupt. Greetings from Croatia.

[@arsenalfan5366]

I actually like your idea about Bulgaria declining in football. Like you said with how they got 4th place at the 1994 World Cup and beating the likes of Germany and Argentina. It’s a shame how Bulgaria has declined heavily in football.

[@Maximilian1990]

Realistically only a third of Bosnian population (Bosniaks, Bosnian Muslims) cares about this team. Croat/Serb Bosnians will cheer for Croatia/Serbia respectively. Said people will also financially support the countries of their origin (by buying team memorabilia, paying for Croatia/Serbia tickets and watching the games etc) while completely ignoring the Bosnian national team. This (and widespread corruption that permeates every layer of BIH society) is why the finances of Bosnian national sports are always a major issue. The team itself consists of mostly Bosniaks with a couple of Serbs/Croats who were too subpar to play for Serbia/Croatia. The run that saw them become 13th best team in the world was a string of circustances which included having a team led by offensively talented individuals and getting a host of favorable draws and easy matches. However this new batch of players coming up is extremely mediocre, with no players like Dzeko, Pjanic, Ibišević, who were capable of winning a game on their own with their brilliance. The future is very bleak for this team

[@bornaborcic7513]

Acctualy more than 50% cause there is less croats and serbs. Also there are people who love Bosnia regardless their ethnicity

[@dandagames6030]

Another interesting video on a dropoff of a national team could be the Czech national team, from second in the fifa rankings in 2006 to 41st today

[@berbafan67]

A similar drop can also be seen in Bulgarian football as well- from 4th in 1994 WC to 84th 2023 World Ranking, including many corruption, racial scandals, chaos, club owner's death and much much more. Bulgaria recently lost 2-0 at home against Lithuania. This was Lithuania's first win in 16 games and the previous 2 games that they had won were against San Marino and Bulgaria once again...

[@vasiliosthomas4883]

As an ethnic Greek, my body convulsed rapidly when I saw them 98 WC qualifier results. What a heart breaker of a campaign, especially that last match in Athens versus Peter Schmeichel, IN THE FLESH............FML! Carry on, my beloved Bosniaks.......

[@لمعان-ض9ع]

Thank you my Greek brother. Likewise.

[@kolobara08]

It is refreshing that Greeks have any likes in Bosnia and Bosniaks, especially given the fact that Greeks by default take Serbs side and the fact that... ... during the aggression war on Bosnia in the 90s, Greek, Romanian, Ukrainian and Russian volunteer fighters actually came to Bosnia to fight against us. Balkan is such an amazing part of Europe but nationalism is destroying it for the last 150+ years. Either way, greetings from Bosnia buddy.

[@iCANTsleep2]

Since Spahič left (our CB and captain) our team has been in shambles. We even had to force him to comeback after her initially retired

[@Munards]

We need him in the coaching staff somewhere

[@professorskye]

Absolutely amazing piece of journalism. You are doing the world a great service with videos like this.

[@HITCSevens]

Thanks @professorskye!

[@Gavinkeenan1]

This guy's videos are brilliant! The amount of research he puts in is second to none! Love them 👌💪

[@ivaneurope]

What happens to Bosnia pales in compairsion to what's going on in Bulgaria. We haven't qualified for a major international football competition in 2 decades, the last win was nearly a year ago, failed to beat Gibraltar once and lost 2:0 at home to Lithuania. Oh, and we're 86th in the FIFA World Ranking - the worst ranking since 2012 (but we still have time to go even lower) and behind fottballing behhemoths such as Oman, Cabo Verde, El Salvador and Bahrain (sorry, if I've offended some) with Luxembourg not that far behind. This was done thanks to the head honcho of Bulgarian football for the last 2 decades in Borislav Mihaylov. It's a crying shame that the people from the so called "golden generation" that gave the nation so much joy in the 1994 World Cup by finishing 4th are also the architects of destroying Bulgarian football. And there's no ending of this madness in sight and we have Dimitar Berbatov leading 'the resistance', but I don't think he'll be any different. I'd rather see Stiliyan Petrov - respected by many as both player and person (he battled through leukemia), in charge of the Bulgarian football. Perhaps Alfie should make a video on the baffling situation with the Bulgarian national team

[@rayzhang7591]

8:30 bro imagine the US elect a white president, a black presisden, a hispanic president, and an asian president, all at the same time lol. This is insane

[@doublea421]

As a Bosnian, I would say your video is spot on Alfie. I do have to say that I agree with a previous post by @Emiroiricanin9133 in regards to Begovic and Petev. The main concern of course is the fact that we do not have anyone that is able to carry this team after some of the veterans retire, especially Dzeko. I’m afraid that our ranking can slip even further unless we start developing our own players instead of hoping someone else does it for us. Not being negative, just realistic.

[@tungurahua8257]

28:06 You forgot one player that definitely belongs on this list: Zlatan Ibrahimović, since he has dual citizenship (both Swedish and Bosnian)

[@deborahluck539]

As always your videos are remarkable! Hello from Las Vegas!!!!

[@Dagpar]

I renew my petition for you to include international subtitles for your videos. I volunteer for Spanish, but just having them would be great for me and my football loving non-English speaking family.

[@MikiTana715]

Very good video..Hat down for you mister, you explained pretty good the reasom for the downfall of our national team! Bosnia is being undermined, but will raise up again. Dont worry! 👍

[@jotarokujo9164]

Bosnia is like Bolivia. They have a golden team for a while and that’s it. Meanwhile, people may delusionally claim that Armenia and Kazakhstan are having their golden age. The truth is they are not. They are like Bolivia and Bosnia.

[@tarik6990]

Kazakhstan maybe but Armenia have crumbled at the first threat like they always do.

[@jotarokujo9164]

@@tarik6990 To be fair Kazakhstan’s shock performance has a lot to do with sportswashing. The majority of their players came from Astana, which is financed by oil money of the Kazakh dictator.

[@tarik6990]

@@jotarokujo9164 Yes, I'm aware.

[@MJ-MJ-MJ-61]

Everything except the pronunciation was spot on! Brilliant analysis!

[@werner6140]

Should do a video on the rise of the Luxemburg national football team.

[@andrzej7bill398]

Great video, could you do one about Poland's future after Lewondowski

[@seandelap8587]

Whats going on at Ajax i had no idea things were so bad for them until i found out yesterday that they haven't won in 10 games and are struggling in the Eredivisie which is basically unheard of for Ajax so what exactly is going on thats caused them to struggle so much

[@ezraezra2928]

He already made this before.

[@BalkanFive]

As an Bosnian, thank you for the video, very well explained (not just the football part)!!

[@T.E.S.S.]

great video but what in all heck is "Saraheyvo"? I've never ever heard it pronounced that way before 🤣

[@worldofwilson464]

This was a very interesting video, I went to Bosnia 2 years ago and bought a fake national team shirt with Džeko on the back. Being in this beautiful country definitely feels like it's a place in huge decline, but even there people were greatly passionate for football.

[@tarik6990]

What's a fake national team shirt?

[@worldofwilson464]

@@tarik6990 I bought one that was clearly not actually made by Adidas in one of the souvenir shops near Baščaršija

[@tarik6990]

@@worldofwilson464 Ok but did you actually want one that wasn't actually made by Adidas? Because you totally could have gotten the Adidas one (well the Kelme one now since we switched manufacturer last year).

[@worldofwilson464]

@tarik6990 I did, what I mean is that although it had Adidas on it, it was clearly counterfeit

[@tarik6990]

@@worldofwilson464 You could have gotten the real one, just maybe not on Bascarsija.

[@ottomanosman2463]

I am Turkish, and Bosnia is very endearing, at least regarding the Bosniaks, who are always seen as brothers and sisters for us. And like any Turkish person, we definitely have bad views on Croats and Serbs for being the reason behind Bosnia's crisis. Still seeing the downfall of Bosnia, my heart feels hurt deeply.

[@charliezobel511]

Any thoughts on what you did to the Armenians seeing you’re so keen to point your finger at the Serbs and the Croats?

[@splicoo1950]

Croats and Serbs behind B&H crisis? Brah,your country Turkey is using Bosnian muslims as their puppets to be honest with you, Croatia and Serbia are helping B&H anywhere they can so please dont comment any more.

[@danielmedjedovic7068]

@@charliezobel511 dont forget about the kurds also lol. The turks are behind it all lol

[@charliezobel511]

@danielmedjedovic7068 I know a few Turkish people, a really good mate of mine during childhood was Turkish, so I have a bit of experience with their ways and their outlook. What I have come to learn about the Turkish mindset is that they seem a bit unsure as to whether they want to be 'western' secular or 'eastern' Islamic. I'd go as far as to say they claim to be one when it suits them but they'll then claim to be the other when that suits the narrative. I also feel that the new Sultan, the delightful Mr Erdoğan, is an extremely dangerous and divisive character who has amplified this confused identity in modern day Turkey by playing both sides. Alas that is something that is not going to end well: not for the Turks and not for the rest of us either 🙁

[@arminxvs3372]

Extremely well researched and presented. Perfect ❤

[@jmorrison230582]

"Domestic football in Bosnia is blighted by sectarianism. Several of the nation's leading clubs have deep rooted religious, ethnic and political ties". -- Scottish football says: hey, you stole our gag!

[@tarik6990]

It's nothing like it is in Scottish football.

[@nikolailic2763]

Well, it's pretty easy. The good Croats from Bosnia play for Croatia, the good Serbs from Bosnia play for Serbia. That halves the talent pool of the country. Add the politics that rule behind the scenes of the Bosnian FA to that and you have a formula for disaster. The WC qualification was achieved with Susic, but in reality that was a base made by Miroslav Blazevic, ''The coach of all coaches'' as he is known in the Balkans.

[@tarik6990]

That's just simply not true, over the years plenty of good Croats and Serbs opted to play for their country: Bosnia-Herzegovina.

[@adnhsc4703]

Yes but thats not real problem. We still jlhave players who pla, in respectful clubs and some good players. Look Romania,Hungary,Slovakia.... we got better players and they are on Euro

[@nikolailic2763]

@@tarik6990 like?

[@tarik6990]

@@nikolailic2763 Misimovic but also many others.

[@frankcastle8397]

@HITCSevens There has to be a serious football project in Bosnia. Well organized to have a stronger national team.

[@skomoracks6244]

As a Bosnian, I agree with this message. This channel absolutely nailed the history, analysis and current affairs. Very well done. We drew Ukraine in the Playoffs today 11/23. Maybe there is a chance for us still.

[@Munards]

💯

[@theredheadproject]

I was in Mostar last month, lovely place and would like to go back and see more of the country. I only saw Velez shirts available in Old Town.

[@vanjasenjanin1797]

East bank is like 99% muslim so its not strange

[@tarik6990]

@@vanjasenjanin1797 No it's not, there is far more mixture there than in the west side which is notoriously anti-Bosnia and pro-Ustase.

[@vanjasenjanin1797]

@@tarik6990 cemu lagat

[@tarik6990]

@@vanjasenjanin1797 Ziva istina i lahko provjerljivo, nazalost za vas.

[@vile1685]

Love your videos, but have you ever thought about releasing your videos as podcasts?

[@TheShowStoppperr]

Do a video on Bulgaria, please.

[@Luka-ty4qr]

Dude I have been WAITING for someone to make a video a like this

[@mafiousbj]

Bosnia being 13th in the world just shows how bullshit the FIFA Rankings are (their World Cup qualifiers group being very weak gave them a great win ratio). If anything, the really shocking part was them taking perfect advantage of that situation and reaching their first World Cup, very impressive for a country with such a small population, but no doubt an enormous passion for the sport. (Not Bosnia´s fault, Colombia were placed 3rd in those rankings at that time despite their high point being a defeat in the quarter finals of the Brasil 2014 World Cup)

[@InteN66]

It's not bullshit if you actually watched that world cup you would have seen that Argentina barely scraped by Bosnia by 2-1 (one own goal by Bosnia). Then it was Dzeko scoring against Nigeria clean goal just to be called of due to non-existing offside (clear corruption). Bosnia went on and smashed Iran then 3:1. If BH managed to draw against Nigeria how it should be they would have been through to a knockout stage because Nigeria drawed against Iran and lost to Argentina. All in all Bosnia and Herzegovina wasn't powerhouse but they were definetely worthy of a 13th place in FIFA ranking that time.

[@harisdizdarevic6674]

Thank you for reporting!

[@MHoz]

And just when you think it couldn't get any worse...we lost to Luxembourg 4:1!

[@stefaniachatzopoulou6322]

You can make also a Video about the shoking downfall of Greece football men from being 13th 10 years ago to be 55th in the rankings

[@bmoboss]

We’re waiting to see Ireland too….from qualifying for major tournaments a lot in the 80s-early 00s to having to lose on purpose to reach the Euro 24 playoffs

[@Alfie_1]

John Delaney video and on Ireland's new generation videos cover most of that I think

[@ezraezra2928]

It will be a great shame for the country. They, along with Home Nations, were selected as Euro 2028 co-hosts.

[@aziz.mp4]

How about a video about Bahrain's national football team? They are yet to amount to anything and haven't qualified to a world cup despite being a match away from doing so in more than one occasion (insane matches along the way as well), they participated in every gulf cup since it's inaugural tournament in Bahrain in 1970 but didn't win one until 2019, they've had a great run in the 2004 Asian cup but finished fourth. I think there's quite an interesting story to tell there about Bahrain's club football structure with clubs literally named after sheikhs that play in them, one club that has won 34 of the 67 championships held, the current league champion being a team established in 2020, their over a century long rivalry with Qatar and how Bahrain could possibly never amount to much regardless of the AFC president being Bahraini.

[@arsenalfan5366]

I like your idea about Bahrain. They came so close to qualify for 2 World Cups. In the playoffs for the 2006 World Cup they lost to Trinidad and Tobago and in in the playoffs for the 2010 World Cup they lost to New Zealand.

[@valentinshort8910]

if you did about Bosnia, you can also do about România,please🙏

[@dino450]

There's a clear recurring pattern. Serbs within the government and other organizations are destroying Bosnia's chances of improving in any way.

[@0101_root]

What On Earth Is Going On At Sampdoria?

[@magnussankaran1097]

Can't help but notice Greece in 11th in that opening picture. Might be worth doing a video on them

[@jakemorris8903]

Greece are improving steadily

[@cistamakedonija8210]

From an ethnic Macedonian I hope Bosnia recovers their form and qualifies via the playoffs for the Euros 🇲🇰🤝🇧🇦

[@ibzz321]

As a Bosnian this was spot on i love your videos , keep up the good work

[@HalfGodHalfManYourWelcome]

Greetings from Ohio! More specifically Montgomery County, where the city of Dayton is located. The Dayton Peace Accords are still a landmark point of pride in our City.

[@pjkerrigan20]

Shoutout Dayton Dutch Lions lol

[@tarik6990]

You shouldn't be proud of something that has made Bosnia-Herzegovina politically dysfunctional and crippled.

[@gozmoszone]

It has stopped the war. But dayton 2 is on the cards as currently nothing works.

[@tarik6990]

@@gozmoszone Dayton 2 is absolutely not in the cards. Dayton 2 isn't even a real thing.

[@Maximilian1990]

Don't EVER mention you're from Dayton OH if you find yourself traveling through Bosnia lol

[@NeroPiroman]

allso our national team is so shit these days that during our latest defeat to portugal a week ago, the bigest reaction of the match was during christianos penalty goal celebration

[@Drunken_Master]

Why are you pronouncing Sarajevo as it is a spanish word?

[@erikthehalfabee6234]

Everybody dislikes the fifa rankings, but we still use them for lack of an alternative

[@cheeseslice9993]

When I was a kid we sent tins of beans and selection boxes at Christmas 🎄to Bosnia

[@sekurus4950]

Lol

[@MB-sh3dz]

Thank you for this informative video.

[@boris8856]

Most things you got right. Only thing that is wrong is when you said that success in 2013-14 made country united in supporting national team. That was not the case, Croats and Serbs didn't support BiH then either, we supported our own national teams, Croatia and Serbia, as we do always.

[@tarik6990]

If you are a Bosnian Croat or a Bosnian Serb born in and living in Bosnia-Herzegovina, your national team is Bosnia-Herzegovina, no matter how much that hurts and bothers you.

[@Maximilian1990]

This, seeing Bosnia do well I was like "oh cool" but at the same time I supported a country that I feel is mine in my heart.

[@tarik6990]

@@Maximilian1990 Yes, due to ethnic sectarianism and being brainwashed.

[@ludaglavaaa1795]

Soon we will have similar video, but with Croatia. They are old and in big decline and dont have good young players.

[@kotrljajucaharinga9622]

4:52 I love your content Alfie, but what you said here was as really big misrepresentation of what the Yugoslav wars, and in particular the Bosnian war, were. It was a series of brutal civil wars fueled by rising ethnonationalism on all sides. It is just a falsehood to describe the Bosnian war as a "serbian mission to ethnically cleanse Bosnia". It was a civil war, in a country that was completely ethnically mixed and whose people weren't unified on one singular goal when Yugoslavia started breaking up. The BOSNIAN serbs (who are just as bosnian as bosnian muslims aka bosniaks) wanted to stay as a part of Yugoslavia or in a union with Serbia. The bosnian muslims wanted the entire territory to be given to them to govern. A compromise unfortunately wasn't reached and we got a bloody civil wars with all sides having blood on their hands. Admittedly, the serbian side did commit the worst of the atrocities, with Srebrenica being the worst war crime that has happened on european soil since WW2, but that doesn't make the entirety of a civil war "a serbian plot to ethnically cleanse Bosnia". It is a horrible misrepresentation.

[@sarahjessicafarter7383]

He's a liberal not a socialist so he's going to sound like Bill Clinton not Michael Parenti on 1990s Yugoslav history.

[@tarik6990]

The Bosnian war wasn't a civil war at all, it was a war of aggression by Serbia and Croatia on a sovereign state. Presenting it as a civil war is a grave mistake and a falsification of history and facts.

[@Maximilian1990]

​@@tarik6990lol

[@mrstrangekind8077]

​@@tarik6990and yet it is only your opinion, with no arguments so far.

[@mrstrangekind8077]

You nailed it with explanation.

[@anonimni1288]

As a Bosnian and Herzegovinan its really rough. With our chances of qualifying for Euro 2024 dwindel and the 5 - nill beatdown against Portugal its just... I just want to se our team win again

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 563) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@utkarshpatel6865]

13:03 you've been saying that Misimovic didn't care whether the striker in front of him was a Muslim (Bosniak) but could you guarantee the same for Dzeko ?,who is a bosniak. Misimovic would have forgot his religion on the pitch but its Dzeko and other bosniaks who bring their religion on the pitch........ You should all watch Russia Today's (RT) documentary on Bosnia and Herzegovina then you all would probably would come across the complete truth.

[@IronMan-sp4dd]

That is some information mate !

[@Maximilian1990]

The Bosnian NT is by default only loved by the Muslim population, which is why there are always strong Muslim undertones to it.

[@tarik6990]

@@Maximilian1990 There is no such thing as 'strong Muslim undertones', you are making up things as you go along.

[@adnankamen6470]

Lets watch RUSSIA TODAY for some "complete truth"!!! LOL that is funny. If Misimovic cared he wouldn't have had anyone to pass the ball to lol. 80% of the team is usually comprised of Bosniaks.. Dzeko and Misimovic played together in Wolfsburg for years, I am sure they have a good relationship.. you must be crazy to think Dzeko would be someone that looks to pass to only bosniaks.. you have a really warped perspective on reality.

[@borisivanov3408]

It would be great if you do similar video, about the Bulgarian National team.

[@fadinjo2304]

Savez napolje!! Volim te Bosno 🇧🇦⚜

[@bosnianguy6895]

Extremely wrong description of Velez as a club. It's not a big Bonsiak majority. During the war we had a legendary trio that played for the Yugoslav national team that was nicknamed "BMV" which was Bajevic (orthodox christian), Maric (muslim) & Vladic (catholic christian). Velez was, and is, a club for everyone. That's our charm. We are not like Zrinjski.

[@RussellFrost-vh7ro]

I think you called it when you said that they had former Yugoslavian internationals. I would suppose that since their independence they haven't invested in youngsters coming through the system. It seems to be a general problem with all wannabe countries. China, Russia, Turkiye to name a few. Great videos, keep up the good work. I hope Hull beat Leeds, Huddersfield, Wednesday and Rotherham this season. I'm a Barnsley fan who hates the other Yorkshire teams. Hull are not a threat though.

[@nedimarnautovic5462]

Fantastic video as always Alfie! Thank you for sheding light on my national team and the corrupt pigs that run it

[@thejulinks]

Now imagine this: You're a young player, born in Austria. You have the Austrian citizenship. You got all of your education in Austria, specifically in Salzburg. The state even put you in a special programm, that is designed for young athletes as a way to bypass military or civil service, if they are talented enough. The Austrian national team is in ascendency, largely thanks to their new coach, Ralf Ragnick, who lets the squad play the very football all your education was based upon. You play a role, where there is a very clear prospect of an opening very soon. BUT for some reason you decide to play for Bosnia and their shambolic team instead, which leads to you having to pause your career for six months because you are no longer eligible for the special treatment and have to do your military service. Congratulations, you are Amar Dedic.

[@bosnianlady10]

Imagine not understanding why a child of Bosnian parents might want to play for Bosnia….

[@thejulinks]

@@bosnianlady10 If you chose to play for "your parent's country" instead of the one that has given you all these opportunities and whose future looks a whole lot brighter then yeah, that's a choice I can neither understand from a logical sporting nor from a emotional perspective. These players often talk about "giving back" to their countries of origin, and don't even see the irony that by doing so they willingly take all the benefits from the country they were born and raised in and basically wasting them.

[@bosnianlady10]

@@thejulinks You sound like you have a case of xenophobia. First, no one gives you nothing for free. I am sure many ( not in Bosnia) have directly benefited from this man’s talent. Let’s not pretend that footballers are the primary financial beneficiaries of their talents and efforts. Second Austria as a country benefits from the low wage labor pool created by refugees . Third , you will never understand the agonizing relationship of diaspora with its native country, if that is not your experience. But it sounds like you just have a problem with xenophobia ( because you are using xenophobic rhetoric), which no amount of explanation will suffice. By the way as a member of the diaspora , I don’t owe any nation shit, native or adopted. I worked for a wealthy family deeply connected to the highest political machines in the U.S. She outright told me , that the world allowed us in , not as a gesture of goodwill but to use us. I already knew that. And let’s remember what happens to players that play for their adoptive countries. They are under extra scrutiny because xenophobia is rampant, and God forbid they loose. Just look at the French team and the amount of racism they got. And plus just imagine the quality of European Fudbal without immigrants. And, I almost forgot, let not forget about the fact that Austria was part of an empire that exploited Bosnia and its resources. I am sure the native person living in Austria today has benefited from it ancestral colonial power and the place and people they exploited.

[@Maximilian1990]

​@@bosnianlady10why do you people cry about Modric, Lovren, Ibra, etc then

[@thejulinks]

@@bosnianlady10 So much wrong with your comment, it's actually insane. Since I neither have the time nor energy to go through all of the more general topics that you are wrong about (Austrian history in particular) I will go back to the concret example of Amar Dedic and his decision. He has lived his whole live in Austria. All of his education, be it in academics or in football, has taken place in Austria. His talents were honed here. Austria still has military conscription, every 18 year old Austrian male either has to do military or civil service. However, there are exceptions for talented athletes, who have the opportunity to be enlisted to the military on paper but don't actually have to do the service and instead get to continue competing and training like normal. If you agree to get this special treatment, however, you agree to represent Austria. Amar Dedic now, again a young man who has never lived in Bosnia and whose whole live has taken place in Austria, agreed to get into that programm only to then refuse the call up from the Austrian national team. Not only is that a stupid decision from a footballing point of view, it was a atupid decision because now he has to do his military service like a regular person. "I don't owe any nation anything" does not apply here. And the god damn audacity of you to come here and accuse someone else of xenophobia, get a grip! Your comment about an adopted country is also completely off base here, because Austria IS his native country. But sure, Dedic would OBVIOUSLY be under a lot more scrutiny compared to players like Alaba, Arnautovic, Mwene, Danso, Onisiwo, Ljubicic or Kalajdzic... Get real!