Bosnia let Yugoslavia off the hook

Bosnia let Yugoslavia off the hook
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Kochi, Jan 14: In a match of blistering pace, Yugoslavia and Bosnia Herzegovina drew 1-1 in Group I of the Sahara Cup at Kochi’s Nehru Stadium.With much attention rendered to the first-ever meeting between the two nations, the match assumed importance and it could be guaged with a few thousand fans turning up on Sunday.

Either side missed a penalty and spurned chances and the honour of scoring fell to substitute Mirsad Beslija who put Bosnia ahead with a shot from 25 yards that gave Lucic Zarko no chance in the Yugoslav goal in the 75th minute.

However, Yugoslavia, seemingly destined to lose with a spate of missed chances, split honours when Petkovic Dusan equalized with just four minutes to go from a free-kick that took a deflection and entered the courageous Adnan Guso’s goal.

With the match a mere five minutes old, Bosnia earned a penalty awarded by Malaysian referee Halim Abdul Hamid when Nihad Sadibasic brought down Osmanovic Dejan but skipper Duljaj Igor produced damp squib that went to the right of the goal.

Yugoslavia who enjoyed the better possession then wrested the initiative but Bosnian keeper Adnan Guso stood firm with saves to keep the rampaging Yugoslavs at bay, helped to a certain extent by the waywardness of strikers Osmanovic Dejan and Ilic Sasa.

Yugoslavia continued in similar vein in the second half and missed a penalty themselves when skipper Ilic Sasa drew a great save from Guso. It was Bosnians who erupted into joy after substitute Beslija struck and it seemed that Yugoslavia would fight a vain battle against destiny as they came desperately close to scoring so often as the minutes ticked by.

With Bosnia heading towards a historic win, honours and points were deservingly split when Dusan struck from 30 yards.