'A result to celebrate': Bosnia boss says players should be proud of WC journey

Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Sergej Barbarez urged his players to celebrate their historic World Cup journey and keep their heads held high after their tournament ended with a 2-0 defeat to the co-hosts United States on Thursday.

Bosnia and Herzegovina were beaten 2-0 by the co-hosts in the round of 32 in the San Francisco Bay Area, bringing to an end their first-ever appearance in the World Cup knockout stage.

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The team had already exceeded expectations by reaching the expanded 48-team World Cup through the playoffs, where they denied former champions Italy a place at the tournament. In the group stage, Bosnia drew with co-hosts Canada, defeated Qatar and lost to Switzerland before advancing to the knockout rounds.

Despite the elimination, Barbarez said there was far more to celebrate than to regret.

"I was really proud of them," Barbarez said of his team. "This is the result that we should celebrate, we shouldn't be sad, because this is part of life, part of football, especially in a big competition like this."

Barbarez acknowledged that the match against the United States was a difficult one, saying his side made costly mistakes, struggled to create chances and failed to make good use of possession.

The coach said he was eager to return home with the team and share the achievement with supporters in person.

"Video messages are nice and great, phone calls are great, but being among people, only then will we understand how good this is, how big this."

Even as Bosnia trailed by two goals, Barbarez said he could not have been prouder of what he saw from his players.

"Although we were down two goals, my heart was really full when I was watching them," he said. "This is really a beautiful thing, and I'm the proudest coach in the world right now."