Bosnia and Herzegovina on verge of knockout stage after seeing off Qatar

Bosnia and Herzegovina always knew boosting their goals-scored column would enhance their chances of advancing to the knockout stage for the first time. It was no wonder, then, that thousands of their supporters went berserk when Ermin Mahmic added a potentially crucial third goal in a victory that eliminated Qatar. The goal of the game undoubtedly belonged to the exciting 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic, but Mahmic’s sealed a win that means a last-32 date with the USA in Santa Clara, at the home of the San Francisco 49ers, is the most likely scenario from here. It was impossible to ignore the sense that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s head coach, Sergej Barbarez, was keeping his powder dry by keeping Alajbegovic on a leash of sorts after declining to start the teenager in their opener against Canada. After all, Alajbegovic was instrumental in Bosnia and Herzegovina arriving to this point, entering as a gamechanging substitute in playoff wins over Wales and then Italy, scoring penalties in both shootout victories, including the decisive spot-kick in Cardiff. Edin Dzeko, this his 150th cap, is the nation’s undoubted icon but in Alajbegovic they possess one of the most exciting talents in Europe. “If you see a boy like that in the two most important games of his career so far, it means that this boy has something and quality,” Dzeko said on the eve of the tournament. …