With FK Sarajevo boss Husref Musemic seemingly unable to account for his team's recent run of poor form, the club hierarchy has taken the creative step of suspending him ahead of Thursday's clash with Basel in the UEFA Cup.
The Bosnia-Herzegovina side, stricken by injury, face an uphill struggle to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the home leg, with the club clearly feeling that the coach would prove more a hindrance than a help.
Sporting director Senad Merdanovic and assistant coach Abdulah Oruc will take to the dugout for the Swiss clash.
The latter insisted that the tie is far from over. He told UEFA.com, "We aren't going to surrender before the game is played. We want to do well in Basel and progress in European competition."
The Bordo-bijeli won their first Bosnian Premier League title this season, earning the right to compete in the Champions League qualifiers.
After sinking Maltese minnows Marsaxlokk, they pulled off an excellent away goals win over Genk before being eliminated by Dinamo Kyiv.
02 October 2007
Sebastian Larsson is a surprise inclusion in the Sweden squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers later this month.
Lars Lagerback's side, who currently top Group F with 19 points and also have a game in hand, play Liechtenstein on 13th October before facing Northern Ireland four days later.
Larsson, 22, has earned a call-up for the games after regular Premier League appearances for Birmingham this season.
"He's one of the small number of young players that has managed to establish himself without returning home," Lagerback is quoted on Uefa.com.
Larsson is joined by fellow Premier League-based players Andreas Isaksson, Andreas Granqvist, Olof Mellberg, Freddie Ljungberg and Christian Wilhelmsson.
Internazionale striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is selected in the 23-man squad despite being suspended for the game against Liechtenstein.
But Kennedy Bakircioglu and Max von Schleebrugge miss out through injury, although Andreas Johansson is included despite a knee problem.
Full squad:
Andreas Isaksson (Manchester City), Rami Shaaban (Fredrikstad); Matias Concha (VfL Bochum), Erik Edman (Rennes), Andreas Granqvist (Wigan), Petter Hansson (Rennes), Daniel Majstorovic (Basel), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos); Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Andreas Johansson (AaB Aalborg), Kim Kallstrom (Lyon), Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham), Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray), Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham), Anders Svensson (Elsborg), Christian Wilhelmsson (Bolton); Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen), Johan Elmander (Toulouse), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Rade Prica (AaB Aalborg), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen)
01 October 2007
UEFA president Michel Platini inspected Ernst Happel Stadium on Monday, the venue that will host the final of next year's European Championship in Austria and Switzerland.
Platini toured the stadium and gave it his blessing, but also noted that it was a bit dated.
"It's a good stadium, but naturally also an old one," Platini said. "You can't forget how long this stadium has been here. It has an atmosphere."
The 50,000-seat stadium was built in 1931 and renovated in 1986.
"It's surely going to be a very good tournament," Platini said after making a symbolic corner kick.
The president of European soccer's governing body was to inspect another stadium in the southern city of Klagenfurt, and then tour venues in Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Later this week, he will make stops at Swiss venues in Geneva, Basel, Bern and Zurich.
