Bosnian head coach unbothered by American banter ahead of round of 32 clash

[p]Former U.S. goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/howard-tim/SxNK5vu3/"]Tim Howard[/a] said on a podcast ‌that the Bosnians were in for a brutal ‌reality check [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/bosnia-herzegovina-fqe7WYTr/usa-fuitL4CF/?mid=A1Jughll"]at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Wednesday[/a], ‌while a network reporter mocked the nation on live TV ‌before later apologising.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barbarez-sergej/xv3YWYid/"]Barbarez[/a] said the hot takes were inevitable in the social media age and had no effect on the team.[/p][p]"[b]I ‌have to admit things like that ⁠happen on a daily ‌basis,[/b]" he told reporters on Tuesday.[/p][p]"[b]We are a small country and ​sometimes things like that happen, but I have no problem with it.[/b][/p][p]"[b]My boys don't have a ​problem with it ... You're playing for a place in the round of 16. If that's not motivation enough, ⁠then I don't really ​notice things like that.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="b23ed721-063c-4f0f-9382-d3c0d2c06fcd" url="https://x.com/BosniaNTBall/status/2072097946397474938?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Opposing coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pochettino-mauricio/zuJM7XDg/"]Mauricio Pochettino[/a] was not embracing the co-hosts being favourites in his pre-match media conference but Barbarez had little doubt.[/p][p]"[b]Look, of course they are ‌favourites. Their place in the rankings, they are the hosts, the names in their team - definitely,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]We never had a problem with being the underdog. This role, this word, doesn't mean anything to me. You can throw this word around.[/b][/p][p]"[b]It's important what happens on the pitch, and this is what I'm interested in. This is what we are interested in.[/b]"[/p][p]Bosnia's players compete in leagues all ‌over the world, including U.S.-born attacker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bajraktarevic-esmir/GUqdXgyQ/"]Esmir Bajraktarević[/a], who ​Barbarez said had brought a unique perspective to ‌the team.[/p][p]"[b]Those touches of American culture are also very important because we have guys who were born all over the world,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]Maybe that's a big advantage for us - that we've managed to bring together ⁠all those cultures, habits, ⁠mentalities and different approaches ‌to football into one unit.[/b]"[/p]