The Group C table makes depressing reading for Norway supporters heading into Wednesday's final round of UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers. As they look for Bosnia-Herzegovina to do them a favour against Turkey, though, they can at least take a crumb of comfort from the previous meeting between the sides in June.
No surrender
Bosnia-Herzegovina ran out 3-2 winners in Sarajevo thanks to Adnan Ćustović's last-minute strike. The same result in Istanbul on Wednesday would put Norway through should they win in Malta and Fuad Muzurović believes his side could yet provide a sting in the tail. "I watched Turkey's win against Norway on television and it was an extraordinary game," he said. "The Turks played their best when it mattered most and justified their favourites' tag [in the group] alongside Greece. Turkey are definitely stronger than us, but we won't surrender."
Muslimović out
Muzurović has called up FK Modriča goalkeeper Bojan Tripić and FK Sarajevo midfielder Veldin Muharemović for the trip to Istanbul. He is, however, without injured Atalanta BC forward Zlatan Muslimović who has been replaced by FK Željezničar's Sanel Jahić, the top scorer in the Bosnia-Herzegovinan Premijer Liga. Marko Hrgović misses out after being sent off in the 3-2 loss to Greece last month, but Elvir Rahimić is available again after suspension.
'Tough'
With all the pressure on Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, who can no longer qualify, have nothing to lose. "Turkey are inspired by their win in Oslo, but we will try to play as well as we can and get the best result we can, but it's impossible to predict the outcome," captain Zvjezdan Misimović said. "The match in Istanbul on Wednesday will be tough."
Are you gonna crack again, Turkey?
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