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Bosnia might calculate, but only a victory leaves their destiny in their hands

Bosnia and Herzegovina are releasing cautious statements, although they are not a defensive team, while Nigeria are more openly talking about a victory, despite a disappointing performance against Iran

Argentina are untouchable in Group F, meaning Nigeria and Bosnia and Herzegovina might decide the second place at Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba. A victory for Nigeria would eliminate Bosnia and put them in a winning position before the last round, while any other outcome puts Safet Sušić's selection forward, as they're facing Iran in the last round of the group.

The same Iranian team was not beaten by Nigeria in a duel that saw one of the worst games of the tournament so far. Nigeria could not find a way to penetrate the Iran bunker defense, had no ideas and lacked focus in the execution phase of their attacks, making their selector Stephen Keshi very disappointed after the match.

- My guys were nervous and unfocused, something I did not expect at this stage. However, in football things happen contrary to expectations, and you have to move on. I wanted us to win against Iran, but we have to accept the tie and play much better in order to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina - stressed the Nigerian strategist Stephen Keshi, who also has to deal with a lot of injured players.

Defender Godfrey Oboabona had to leave the pitch due to problems with his ankle, and will not be playing against BiH, while the appearances of right back Kenneth Omeruo and creative midfielder Ahmed Musa are very much in question, and their absence, especially that of Musa, would be a heavy blow for Nigeria. Defensive midfielder Reuben Gabriel is also uncertain to appear, but he is not one of the starting eleven.

Nigeria are in a position that a point keeps them ahead of Bosnia, but then they need a win against Argentina in order to secure advancement, which is a huge risk, although the game will carry no weight result-wise for Argentina. Keshi should therefore look for a more offensive approach against BiH, in other words go for all three points without calculations.

- This match is like a final game for us, and we are thinking only about winning- said Nigeria's great goalie Vincent Enyeama, but the burden of expectation is more on the midfielders and forwards, as if they do not perform better than they did against Iran, Nigeria can hardly hope to win all three points. Keshi will also change the lineup a bit too, with the more offensive Odemwingie expected to replace defensive midfielder Azeez in the starting eleven.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's historic debut at the sold out Maracana in Rio de Janeiro ended with a 1-2 defeat against Argentina, but the only first-timers of this Mundial have nothing to be ashamed of. Were it not for the huge misfortune of Kolašinac hitting his own net after just 3 minutes, who knows if Messi's genius would have been enough for Argentina to triumph. Sušić's selection won the hearts of the football world, but it is never a good idea to celebrate defeats, one should learn the lessons they offer and take the good points with you.

The Bosnian selection start the key phase of the tournament today, the one where they play against opponents they can beat, provided they display their full potential. Although many suggest Sušić might set up a more cautious lineup and wait for the Nigerians to take the risk, which would leave room in their ranks, the BiH selector would still like to have more the ball more in his possession and control the game.

If his statement prior to the match with Argentina was "our game thrives more when we have the ball", why should that be any different against Nigeria, especially when victory for Bosnia would mean they get to decide their own destiny and advancement to the knockout stage in the last game  against Iran.

-Every waking moment I spent thinking how to start and who to use in the starting 11. We must not be naive, as a defeat would send us home right away, while a tie still leaves us a good chance. We're a team that cannot close all access and play for 0-0, so we'll try to win, but we should not try that at any cost- points out Safet Sušić, Bosnian selector, who knows that the quick Nigerian forwards do well when given some room.

- The Nigerians are very unpleasant when given space to play. Iran's defense did a good job in blocking them, and they could not find a solution for that, but they will probably play differently against us. They have quick forwards, Emenike in particular, and given room they are very dangerous- stressed Sušić, who has two possible issues on defense.

Left back Salihović missed the Argentina duel due to a hamstring injury, and will probably miss the one against Nigeria as well, while captain and defense commander Emir Spahić could not work the full duration of the last two practices, but him being who he is, he will probably suck it up and perform in this crucial match.

- Spahić did not train on Thursday, but that is nothing to worry about. Sejad Salihović started practicing normally, but I've told him to prepare for the crucial match against Iran. Everyone else is healthy, they trained well in this weather, they're all ready and eager. Nigeria have one point, and I don't believe they would be satisfied with just a point against us, as that would mean they'd have to beat Argentina later. I expect an open match, we need a victory as well, while a tie also has value for us. There may be a lot of chances and goals- thinks Sušić, who will likely keep his 4-2-3-1 formation with Džeko as the the forward point, although Ibišević scored coming off the bench against Argentina, while there was also word of playing 4-4-2 against Nigeria and Iran prior to the championship.

-The starting lineup will not change much. There is a chance one new player will play- confirmed the Bosnian selector, but would not reveal where in the lineup.

- Even playing with one forward we play offensively. We have wingers that join the offense and always attack with five or six players. I cannot answer whether Ibišević will start. We still have some uncertainties about tactics, but we'll play to win, although a point is no a bad thing either for us. When we arrived here, nobody gave us the goal to advance to the next stage, we set that goal for ourselves. I believe people would not be disappointed if we gave it our best shot and showed our best. I rightfully expect us to advance, and I believe we're the next best selection in the group after Argentina. We've got players with great technical skill in our team, and were short of a player to start the pressing when we needed to take the ball away from the opponent. We found one in Bešić. We played differently in the qualifiers and took risks, even playing without a defensive midfielder at times, and Muhamed Bešić brought a necessary amount of balance to the team- said Sušić.

-Our match against Argentina is not a measure of things, but if we play our other matches the way we played against them, I believe we can leave a mark here in Brazil. We are a determined team with a lot of individual quality. Perhaps we need to be stronger occasionally, in some situations, but we certainly have quality, and need to give it everything we've got. We should focus only on our game, not on them, and should not be fooled by the indecisive way Nigeria played against Iran. We eagerly want to win, but we need to stay calm and play even better than against Argentina- said the record holder in the number of appearances for Bosnia and Herzegovina (83 times), Zvjezdan Misimović, who did not give his usual performance in the first match, but he is a flash player, and sometimes worth waiting for.

The game will be refereed by 42-year-old Peter O'Leary from New Zealand, who's been wearing the FIFA badge since 1993, and has given out 174 yellow and eight red cards in the 42 international matches he officiated so far, awarding a penalty on eight occasions.

Bosnia are the favorites today but not so much that that they will dominated the possession so much . If they score the first goal, I'm pretty sure they will allow Nigeria to dominate and they play slow game. The pattern for this game will be the game between Nigeria and Iran where Nigeria had 72% possession. It was no accident as they had 60% against USA, 51 against Greece, 64 against Scotland. These were their last 4 games. Bosnia? 45% against Argentina, 38 against Mexico in the last friendly they won. In my opinion, this bet has a value in every scenario except in case of an early goal for Nigeria which would lead them to defend for a long time. As long as the score is tied, I think it's at least a 50-50 chance that Bosnia will not play high pressure with Pjanić, Misimović, Džeko and possibly Ibišević. If Bosnia take an early lead, Nigeria will almost certainly dominate the possession. For 3.00 odds, it's really worth the risk. A widely available bet is Nigeria over 48.5%.