One thing players and coaches agree on is that contacts can pay off in the world of football. That was the case for Amer Osmanagi\u0107, 19, who used to play for the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and was captain of the U -17 and U-19 national teams.<\/p>\n
He was poised to move up to the next BiH national team until he argued with his coach.<\/p>\n
‘I had a clash with the national coach Ivo Kne\u017eevi\u0107 and he showed no understanding for me, nor did I for him. His decision was that I should sit on the bench while his son (played)’ he said.<\/p>\n
After the argument, Osmanagi\u0107 said, Kne\u017eevi\u0107 told him, ‘As long as I\u2019m here you will not play for the national team.’ Osmanagic thought then his dream of playing for Bosnia\u2019s national team was over.<\/p>\n
Kne\u017eevi\u0107, though, said he had hoped Osmanagi\u0107 would be the team captain and was disappointed by his behavior. He said he knew that Osmanagi\u0107 was unhappy with him and his assistants because he had to wait on the bench during a friendly game against Montenegro in Trebinje in 2007.<\/p>\n
Osmanagi\u0107 began his career with Tuzla\u2019s Sloboda club, where a scout for Belgrade\u2019s Partizan club recognized his talent. Partizan brought him under its wing, and earlier this year he was invited to join the U-19 team of Serbia, said Zlatko Krmpoti\u0107, the former national team coach.<\/p>\n
But Osmanagi\u0107 said he wanted to play for his own country again. And that\u2019s when a contact proved useful.<\/p>\n
His father, Mirsad, knew an assistant coach for the under-21 national team. He made a phone call. ‘I asked him to invite him for a tryout and see if they needed such a player’ his father said.<\/p>\n
Osmanagi\u0107 played with the team this fall and, according to the coach his father called, will be a part of the team’s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Knowing the right people, or being related to them, can insure success in football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1359,1429],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-26258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ostalo-2","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n