March 26 (Reuters) - Bosnia-Herzegovina manager Sergej Barbarez refused to apologise to Danish club Brondby's Welsh manager Steve Cooper for suggesting he benched midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic because he will face Wales in Thursday’s World Cup playoff semi-final in Cardiff.
Brondby defended their position, insisting the decision to leave Tahirovic out of their last two matches was made collectively by the coaching staff and management and had no connection with either national team.
Media reports on Tuesday said Tahirovic had contacted Brondby manager Steve Cooper to apologise for the controversy and Brondby sporting director Benjamin Schmedes contacted Barbarez to clarify the club’s stance.
Despite that, Barbarez said he has nothing to apologise for and insisted his comments were made to shield his player.
“I don’t think I should apologise for anything,” he told reporters on Wednesday in Cardiff.
“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.
Wales host Bosnia-Herzegovina for a place in a home playoff final against Italy or Northern Ireland and Barbarez urged that focus be brought back to the match.
“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 attempting to qualify for the World Cup finals for the second time, having done so in 2014. Wales qualified for the tournament in Qatar in 2022.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
