Bosnia and Herzegovina captain Edin Dzeko believes England can win Euro 2024.
England host Bosnia in a friendly fixture at St James’ Park on Monday and the visitors arrived in Newcastle earlier on Sunday.
It is the start of a new era for Bosnia after they appointed former forward Sergej Barbarez as head coach in April following a failure to qualify for this summer’s European Championship in Germany.
After Monday’s clash with England, Bosnia will travel to Italy for a friendly and Dzeko, who spent five years at Manchester City, feels both teams can win Euro 2024.
“This is a new national team with many young players and everyone needs to be given some time,” Dzeko told a press conference.
“It is not easy to play against England in England and Italy in Italy. You have to be realistic and say that these are the national teams that are favourites to win the European Championship, and I am especially thinking about our opponents tomorrow.
“For us, the most important thing is that the players get to know the way of work of the new coach and the professional staff, to bring it to a satisfactory level.
“Even now that I am 38 years old, and even earlier, playing for the national team is a great pride and a dream for me. As long as the coach and coaching staff need me, I’m here.”
Bosnia’s preparation for the England match was disrupted on Sunday morning when head coach Barbarez was unable to join the group on their flight to Newcastle after he felt unwell.
“The selector Sergej Barbarez was not feeling well before the trip, so he stayed in Sarajevo.
“Barbarez will join the team in England later.”
Barbarez has since informed local media that it was “nothing serious” and he is expected to be able to take charge of his maiden match at the helm.
“It’s nothing serious. I will quickly join the rest of the team in England,” Barbarez told Raport, a media organisation based in Bosnia.