Haris Tabakovic was called up for the Bosnian national team Photo: picture alliance / BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Luciano Lima
From BZ/dpa
The first nomination of his striker Haris Tabakovic for the Bosnian national team invited Hertha coach Pal Dardai to joke.
“I’m such a good coach, I made him a national player. The manager too, of course. The lineup comes from above. It’s good that you always write in,” said the Hungarian with a laugh in the direction of sports director Benjamin Weber.
Dardai left no doubt about Tabakovic’s qualities before the game against Karlsruher SC on Saturday (8.30 p.m./Sky and Sport1): “That was his dream. We support that. We are very happy if we have helped something. Because he scores the goals here and does a very good job for the team, including defensively,” said the 47-year-old. Weber added: “He simply earned it through his performance.”
Tabakovic came to the Berlin second division club from Austria’s first division in the summer and was leading the scorers list before the match day. The 29-year-old, whose parents fled from Bosnia to Switzerland during wartime, played for the Swiss youth national teams.
He has now been called up by national coach Savo Milosevic for Bosnia-Herzegovina’s European Championship qualifiers in Luxembourg (November 16th) and against Slovakia (November 19th). “I was aware that I would have to make a decision at some point and I am very happy that I might soon be able to play my first game for Bosnia-Herzegovina,” said Tabakovic to “Kicker”.
Dardai shares the wish of all club coaches: “I’m happy. That’s wonderful. But I’ll also be happy if he comes back healthy,” he said.