Edin Dzeko: "I have no words. We deserved to win but conceded two naive goals"

Bosnia and Herzegovina striker and captain Edin Dzeko commented on his national team's defeat to Ukraine (1-2) in yesterday's match of the Euro 2024 qualification play-off round.

"It's sad that we conceded a goal on the counterattack. But this is the best weapon of the Ukraine national team. We can't blame any of the players in our team: everyone tried his best. Closer to the 60th minute I saw that some guys had cramps. It's not an excuse, it's just a matter of the fact that the guys gave more than their maximum. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and I think we deserved more. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, there wasn't a single shot on our goal until the 70th minute of the match.

I really have no words. We did everything we could. We played probably one of our best matches. I am never satisfied, but over the last two years it is one of our best games in a tactical sense. Perhaps the injuries our players sustained during the match played a part.

We acted well from the very first minute, and every player knew what to do on the pitch in this or that situation. Unfortunately, we conceded two naive goals. At that moment we had a lot of young players in our squad, and, of course, their inexperience played its role.

But the guys showed that they have quality. It is very unfortunate for the young players. I saw some of them crying. They also saw that we are good and deserved to win today. However, the future is with these guys! The national team will be stronger if they keep playing like this," said Dzeko during the post-match flash interview.