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| Edin Dzeko is one of the world's best strikers. Standing 6-foot-4, he is especially dangerous in the air. |
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| Robert Griffin III while at Baylor. |
Brazil 2014 marks the first appearance in a major international tournament for the Bosnian side. They came to close to qualifying for both World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012, only to lose to Portugal in the UEFA Playoff Round both times. Considering that the country has a population of less than 4 million people (the 2nd least populous country in the tournament and the least populous to qualify through Europe) and is less than 2 decades removed from the horrific genocide that followed its independence from Yugoslavia, getting this far is quite an accomplishment. However, the "Dragons" (Zmajevi in the native tongue) don't play like a team that's just happy to be there. They like to fly up the field and score, defense be damned. Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko and Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic lead the Dragons' fire-breathing attack. VfB Stuttgart striker Vedad Ibisevic, who played high school and college soccer in St. Louis, Missouri (one of US Soccer's many scouting / recruiting failures of the pre-Klinsmann era), also figures to play a role.
Similarly, from the mid 1990s through the late 00s, Baylor was just as much a non-entity in football as Bosnia was in fútbol. Then Coach Art Briles and a dual-threat quarterback named Robert Griffin III showed up. Since 2010, the Bears have gone to 4 straight bowl games; and last season, they won their first ever Big XII championship. (Waco, Texas, is also notorious for an episode of violence in the mid 90s, though obviously the genocide in Bosnia was worse by a factor of thousands than the Branch-Dividian incident.)
Bosnia's Group F breaks down as follows: Argentina is virtually certain to advance, Iran has little to no chance, and Bosnia and Nigeria are more or less battling for the 2nd spot. The Dragons face the "Super Eagles" on June 21st in what figures to be the group's most pivotal match.
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