Great Wall of China? Nah, some wall in Bosnia, site of Ghana's friendly

Ok, so right out of the gate, I know nothing about the Bosnian team. I do know the capital of Bosnia is Sarajevo though and wouldn’t you know it, that’s where the game is going to be played. It is probably more well-known as the site of aerial bombardment in the 90s by NATO forces. According to the tourist guides though, the only sorties these days are from commercial flights. For those thinking of taking a honeymoon, lover’s moon or whatevermoon there in the future, here are the attractions.

Other than that, my research reveals their best player is someone whose name rhymes with gecko. That may suggest he’s light on his feet, slick in his movements and will crawl up any concrete wall. Our players are made up of flesh however and we hope Dzeko will not breach their wall. 

Their star players including this pseudo-reptilian guy play in Germany. They are purported to have a similar style to the Serbians who are in our World Cup group. The fact that they play in Germany may be a good thing as we kill two birds with one friendly. Either way, I figure the more European teams we play in the run-up to the world cup, the better our chances of progressing from our group would be. That’s why I wasn’t too sad when the originally announced match against Paraguay in South Africa was cancelled. I saw no gain in many of our players traveling 10 hours – 12 hours one way for a friendly match. That would make 20- 24 hours travel in the space of three or four days. Not healthy for athletes. The FA’s coffers may well have been boosted as it was to help in showcasing one of the newly constructed stadia in South Africa but money can’t buy you everything.

On our side, we will welcome back some of the players who did not feature in the African Cup of Nations.

This will not be an easy match. Bosnia missed out on the World Cup and that may be extra motivation when playing us. My prediction is we will perform creditably as the blend of new players attempts to force their way into contention for the final squad in SA. But because we never seem to win our friendly matches I will say a score draw is in order. 

Oh and for tv listings, I hear the match is at 16.30 GMT but don’t quote me. Just sit in front of the tv from 4.30 p.m. and you should be good.