BOSNIA v IRELAND - Why Bosnia’s Roma duo are the ones to fear for Ireland

Paddy Agnew reveals just why Ireland need to fear Roma’s Bosnian duo Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko ahead of the Euro 2016 play-off showdown.

When the Republic of Ireland’s talented and experienced manager, Martin O'Neill, met the media earlier this week to discuss this weekend’s Euro 2016 crunch play-off games against Bosnia, he singled out two Bosnian players worthy of particular attention.

They were namely midfield schemer Miralem Pjanic and striker Edin Dzeko.

Those of us who see AS Roma play on a weekly basis were hardly surprised. For a start, in the last week both Pjanic and Dzeko have scored vital goals for Roma in crucial games.

First up was Roma’s Champions League 3-2 group win over Bayer Leverkusen at the Olimpico.

This was one of those, now trademark games when the Rudi Garcia coached Roma managed to mix the very good with the very bad. The good was bold, creative attacking football which put them 2-0 up by half time. The bad was the concession of two goals in the first six minutes of the second half which put Roma on the verge of elimination.

Dzeko had had a major say in Roma’s positive first-half with a display that yet again demonstrated that the giant former Manchester City striker is much more than just a big central target man.

Just two minutes into the game against a very aggressive, high-lying Leverkusen defence, Dzeko held onto a counter-attacking ball, despite the attentions of three opponents, before delivering a perfect lay-off to Mohamed Salah for a solo run and subsequent goal.

On the half hour, Dzeko struck again. This time, he was the one to make the most of a through ball from Roma’s Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan, again in a counter-attacking situation, slotting his shot home with the surest of touches.

If Dzeko did well, Pjanic arguably did even better. For after Roma had appeared to jeopardise all their good work with those two quickly conceded goals at the beginning of the second half, the chance to win the match came just ten minutes from time.

Roma were awarded an obvious penalty after Salah had been knocked to the ground on the goal line just as he was about to score.

This was nothing if not a do or die pressure penalty, one that would put Roma into second place in the group.

In the past, the penalty would have been taken by talisman, Francesco Totti, currently injured and very much a reserve player in this Roma.

Pjanic, however, did the business with a brilliantly struck, low and angled shot that left Bayer ‘keeper Bernd Leno with no chance and which put Roma back on track to qualify.

Four days later, it was his compatriot Dzeko who converted an arguably even more pressurised penalty, when he opened the scoring in Roma’s 2-0 derby win over Lazio.

With Pjanic suspended for that game, Dzeko opted to take the spot kick which had been (dubiously) awarded for a foul against him on the edge of the area by Lazio’s Argentine defender Santiago Gentiletti.

Given that this was Dzeko’s first Rome derby, he ran the risk of making himself either an instant hero or an instant flop with his new fans.

He rode out the pressure, hit his penalty straight down the middle and set Roma on the way to an all important derby win which left them in third place in Serie A, just one point behind joint leaders Fiorentina and Inter Milan.

Apart from Pjanic and Dzeko, Bosnia coach Mehmed Bazdarevic can call on some other useful and experienced players such as defender Emir Spaphic (Hamburg), goalkeeper Asimir Begovic (Chelsea), midfielder Senad Lulic (Lazio) and striker Vedad Ibisevic (Hertha Berlin).

However, one suspects that if he has a match winner in his squad, it could be either of the two Roma men.

For instance, Ireland will want to be careful about conceding edge of the area free kicks because Pjanic, who learned his craft alongside Brazilian Juninho at Lyon, is a specialist marksman.

Just ask Italian legend, Juventus goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, beaten by a masterly Pjanic free kick in Roma’s 2-1 Serie A win over the Old Lady in August.

More than just the talent of guys like Pjanic and Dzeko, however, coach Bazdarevic can count on massive Bosnian pride.

Many have heard the story of how, when Bosnia played their first match as a post-Yugoslavia and post-war independent nation in November 1995, their team shirts had been bought just hours before the kick-off in a Zagreb sports shop.

Nineteen years later, Bosnia qualified for the Brazil World Cup finals, putting 50,000 on the streets of once war-torn Sarajevo for a rare moment of national celebration.

Bazdarevic, Pjanic, Dzeko et al will be working hard to put those fans back on the streets again, following the play-offs with Ireland on Friday and next Monday.

When Martin O'Neill says that there are no “walk-overs in play-off games”, he is dead right.