The footballers of Borac aim to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the BiH Cup. Their opponent in the first competitive match of the new year is Zvijezda 09, a team they have already defeated twice in the BiH championship.
Despite this, coach Vinko Marinović emphasizes that the opponent is a quality team that has significantly improved its form, and there must be no relaxation at any moment.
“We have, it seems to me, never had shorter preparations, but we had enough matches to build on our game. I believe we succeeded in that and did everything we planned, so we are turning to competitive duels. Zvijezda 09 has shown at the end of the season that they are improving, that they are a much better team than their point tally in the championship suggests. This is the first competitive match after the preparations, so it carries a certain degree of danger. I expect us to play well and to make it through,” coach Vinko Marinović highlighted.
Captain Srđan Grahovac also believes in a good start to the second part of the season. Borac is the autumn champion and wishes to maintain this position, but the club certainly does not give up on the fight for the second trophy.
The team has completed preparations in Antalya, where they played quality checks in which they saw their strengths and weaknesses.
“We have our ambitions in the BiH Cup and certainly want to start the new year with a victory in an official match. We have defeated Zvijezda 09 twice with difficulty in the season so far, so we appreciate the opponent. In both duels, they troubled us and provided excellent resistance. The Cup is a one-match affair, this is the first duel after the preparations and that brings certain specifics so we must be fully concentrated. We had good preparations, improved our game, and now we are eagerly awaiting the match. We worked well in the preparations, and they give the luxury of drawing good lessons even after defeats. Such matches show you what you need to work on for the continuation and to be in full form for official matches. It’s very important to start with a victory and move on to the next round. After that, a series of difficult matches follows, and a triumph would give us additional confidence to continue where we left off in the autumn part,” said Grahovac.
David Čavić will be the only one not playing in this match, while Jovan Nišić has recovered.
BiH Cup round of 16 pairs: Saturday: 1 pm: Jedinstvo Bihać – GOŠK, Zrinjski – Slavija, 3 pm: Posušje – Laktasi, Sunday: 1 pm: Stupčanica – Široki Brijeg, Sloboda – Sarajevo, 4 pm: Sloga Doboj – Igman, 6.30 pm Borac – Zvijezda 09, played on Friday Velež – Tuzla City.
No Risks
Coach Vinko Marinović highlighted that the match against the Polish team Podbeskidzie was canceled out of caution.
“We planned to play two matches of 90 minutes each. However, we had injuries to Nišić, Čavić, as well as several sick players and we did not want to take any risks. Then we would play two matches without substitutions and it would be too strenuous,” explained coach Marinović.
Source: Glas Srpske
