Bosnia and Herzegovina will be a sole debutant at the World Cup next month as the National Team prepares to face Argentina at the Maracana in their opening match in less than a month. During the past 5 days, the team landed from their respective locations abroad to begin training in a rainy Sarajevo. Little did they and the country know what would hit them over the next week. As the days past and rained continued to pour, rivers began to swell and overflow into local towns and villages causing widespread flash flooding. The floods have devastated several cities such as Doboj, Banja Luka and Maglaj while affecting over 1.2 million people; many are without power and have been forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge and protection from whatever help has been able to reach them.
Football means the World to Bosnia as millions stop and look every match hoping for victory. Last October, Bosnia historically qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and will make it's first ever appearance there. With just under a month to go until the tournament kicks off, preparations and training for the World Cup began yesterday in Hrasnica, a small town outside of Sarajevo, where flooding was not a problem. However, the coaching staff was focused on the daunting task ahead as they prepare to make history. The players were very concerned with giving their support for the relief efforts with Edin Dzeko taking to social media to get the world's attention on the tragedy unfolding in Bosnia. The Manchester City striker called for unity through the tough times and strongly suggested that the country will get through this together. Captain Emir Spahic, who is known for his emotional posts on Facebook, urged people to help their familes, friends and strangers through the tragedy. However, in typical captain style, Spahic also said that the country will bounce back from this stronger than ever and offered his sympathy will those affected.
Meanwhile on the training field, it wasn't smooth sailing, either. Head coach Safet Susic was rather unhappy with his players during practice yelling "faster, faster... this isn't good enough!". Susic and his coaching staff focused on technical play, conditioning and movement, a very demanding first set of training for the players.
Moving back to the floods and how you can help, there have been several charities set up by people on sites such as GiveForward.com and GoFundMe.com. You can donate to whatever and as many links as you want to, all proceeds go directly towards helping the victims recover from this tragic situation that has befallen them. Serbia has also been greatly affected by the flooding and some of the links will also send funds to Bosnia's neighbors.
http://www.gofundme.com/99lfjg
http://www.gofundme.com/98iwck
http://www.gofundme.com/97ss6c
http://www.gofundme.com/save-bosnias-street-dogs
Help VAVEL spread awareness about this unfortunate situation by sharing these links, and keep your thoughts and prayers with the people in the Balkans.
