Bosnia boss Barbarez refuses to apologise to Cooper
Bosnia-Herzegovina manager Sergei Barbarez has refused to apologise to Brondby's Welsh boss Steve Cooper for his controversial comments in the lead-up to Thursday's World Cup play-off in Cardiff. Barbarez had accused Cooper of dropping Bosnia midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic from the Danish side because of this week's qualifier against Wales, something Brondby officials denied. Tahirovic is understood to have since contacted Cooper to apologise about the matter.
Asked if he would follow suit, Barbarez said: "I don't think I should apologise for anything. " Instead, the former Bosnia-Herzegovina striker hinted he had deliberately created headlines in an effort to divert attention towards him and away from the 23-year-old former Roma and Ajax player. "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," said Barbarez on Wednesday.
"I had the idea to protect the player. That's where all this talking was from. "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 tomorrow's match, which is the most important thing for both teams. " Cooper gets apology in Wales v Bosnia dropping row Who would you pick for Wales' play-off v Bosnia-Herzegovina? 'Best defeat' in Bosnia and the Wales hero you've never heard of Wales boss Craig Bellamy laughed off the surreal subplot earlier on Wednesday, adding he had not spoken to Cooper since the former Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City head coach was appointed by Brondby in September 2025.
Brondby's communications director Soren Hanghoj rejected Barbarez's claim and said the player's omission was a "club decision", adding: "And there are not that many Wales fans in Brondby after all. " There will, though, be a sizeable contingent of Bosnian fans who make the trip to the Cardiff City Stadium with their side needing to beat Wales to remain on track to reach their first World Cup since 2014. The winners in south Wales on Thursday are guaranteed a home final against the winners of Italy or Northern Ireland on Tuesday, 31 March.