A war of words has ignited between USA legend Tim Howard and Bosnia and Herzegovina manager Sergej Barbarez ahead of the two nations’ World Cup clash.

The USMNT meet Bosnia in the Round of 32 on Wednesday night at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are favourites heading into the tie after winning their group with two wins from three games.

That said, the Americans did suffer a surprising 3-2 defeat to Turkey in their final Group D game after wins over Paraguay 4-1 and Australia 2-0. This raised doubts over the co-hosts’ chances of reaching the latter stages of the tournament ahead of their encounter with Bosnia.

Bosnia finished third in Group B with one win, one draw and one defeat in their three games. Led by Edin Dzeko, the European nation heads into tonight’s game as underdogs.

USA vs Bosnia – Barbarez Hits Back at Howard

REUTERS/Daniel Cole

Howard isn’t concerned about the Bosnians and urged USA fans not to stress after the loss to Turkey. The former Manchester United goalkeeper insisted Pochettino’s team will bounce back while speaking on Unfiltered Soccer:

“Bosnia, they’re better off not even getting on a plane and going to San Francisco, because the U.S. is gonna put work in against them.”

Barbarez clapped back at Howard with a brutal response when the American pundit’s comments were put to him during the pre-match press conference:

Bosnia’s coach then gave a serious assessment of his nation and their ambition to reach the last 16. He told reporters, “We are a small country and sometimes things like that happen, but I have no problem with it.”

He added: “My boys don’t have ​a problem with it … You’re playing for a place in the round of 16. ​If that’s not motivation enough, then I don’t really notice things like that.”

Bosnia started their World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against co-hosts Canada before losing 4-1 to Switzerland. They then beat Qatar 3-1 to seal their place in the knockout rounds.

Barbarez acknowledged the USA as favourites but insisted his side have no problem with being the underdog. He is only focused on guiding his side to victory in Santa Clara.

Dzeko Criticizes USA Mindset

Reuters/Steven Bisig

Howard wasn’t the only American to mock Bosnia in the build-up to the game, as ABC7 presenter Abigail Velez also joked about the Europeans. In a viral clip, Velez tried pointing the country out on the map and said:

“In the next round, Team USA will play Bosnia next Wednesday. And, one thing about Bosnia [is that] I could not point out where it is on a map. That’s because Team USA, we’re back, we’re better than ever. Get prepared Bosnia, because you don’t want it. You don’t want it like that. But you’re gonna get it.”

This didn’t go down well with Bosnia captain Dzeko, who questioned the Americans’ mentality before the game. The former Manchester City striker told Ben Jacobs for talkSPORT:

Bosnia are participating in their second World Cup campaign after beating Italy in the playoffs to qualify. Their only previous participation came in 2014 when they crashed out during the group stages.

Dzeko is Zmajevi’s talisman and all-time top goalscorer with 73 goals in 150 games. The 40-year-old Schalke frontman will be eager to add to that tally against the USA and help his country pull off a shock in Santa Clara.

Very few moments in football carry the same pressure as a World Cup penalty shootout. After 120 minutes of action, an entire nation’s hopes can come down to just a handful of kicks from 12 yards out — creating some of the sport’s most beautiful memories and most painful scars.

Since penalty shootouts were introduced at the 1978 World Cup, 37 knockout matches have been decided by way of spot-kicks, with just three World Cup finals finishing with the so-called lottery that is penalties. Over that team, some teams have gained a reputation for being ruthless under pressure, whilst others have made a habit of succumbing to the occasion.

But which nations have been the most successful when matches have gone all the way to penalties?

Brazil — 3 Wins

With legends like Romario, Ronaldo Nazário and Rivaldo, it’s not hard to see how ‘A Seleção’ have won three out of their five total World Cup penalty shootouts. Their first win came in the final of the 1994 World Cup in the USA, after Daniele Massaro and Roberto Baggio missed both of Italy’s last two penalties to hand the win to Brazil, with the game finishing 0-0 after 120 minutes. And just four years later, it was through penalties in which they would secure their place in the final, after their match against the Netherlands ended 1-1 after extra time. Brazil netted all four of their penalties before Ronald de Boer missed the decisive kick.

Their most recent penalty victory came in the round of 16 at their home tournament in 2014, where, despite Willian and Hulk missing two of Brazil’s penalties, they still won after Chile could only convert twice from the spot.

Germany — 4 wins

REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

*Including West Germany and Germany

The Germans took part in two of the first three penalty shootouts to ever happen at a World Cup, and won them both. After no games at the 1978 tournament required the use of penalties, West Germany’s 3-3 result against France in the semi-final of the 1982 World Cup, which features in our top 10 greatest matches in World Cup history, forced the first ever World Cup penalty shootout. And with both teams level with four penalties each, Maxime Bossis’ miss in sudden death set-up West Germany’s Horst Hrubesch to send his nation to the final.

Just four years later, West Germany whitewashed Mexico in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, before dumping England out of Italia ’90 four years later. Their most recent success through penalties came at their home tournament in 2006, when conversions from Michael Ballack and Lukas Podolski saw them edge past Argentina.

Croatia — 4 wins

Whilst Croatia’s inclusion in this list may surprise some, they have won the most World Cup penalty shootouts without ever losing. What’s even stranger, is that all four wins came across just two consecutive tournaments. Their knockout journey at the 2018 World Cup in Russia started with a 3-2 victory on penalties over Denmark, before beating the hosts, who themselves had knocked Spain out of the tournament the round prior, with four penalties to Russia’s three.

Fast-forward to the very next tournament in Qatar, and they produced an almost identical run through the first two stages of the knockouts. Japan converted just once as Croatia sailed through to a quarter-final meeting with Brazil, during which missed spot-kicks by Rodrygo and Marquinhos ensured Croatia’s flawless shootout run remained intact.

Argentina — 6 wins

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It makes sense that the team who have participated in the most World Cup penalty shootouts have also won the most. But the more shocking stat is that they have only lost one out of seven, an astonishing 85 per cent win rate. Their first two penalty shootouts came at the 1990 World Cup, where they defeated Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals, before bypassing hosts Italy in the semi-final.

In 1998, Hernán Crespo’s missed effort was canceled out by Paul Ince and David Batty after the pair failed to score two of England’s penalties, sending Argentina through to the quarter-finals. Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso were unfortunate enough to hand their nation its sole defeat after missing against Germany in 2006 before they returned to penalty glory in 2014 with their 4-2 win over the Netherlands.

Argentina’s final two shootout triumphs came on their way to World Cup glory in 2022. After their quarter-final tie with the Netherlands finished 2-2, the South American side managed to outscore their European counterparts 4-2 from the spot. And then, after one of the most thrilling World Cup finals in recent memory, Argentina prevailed under the most crushing of pressure, netting all four of their penalties to, once again, crown them as the champions of the world.

World Cup Penalty Shootout Team Stats

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Argentina have comfortably the best penalty shootout record in World Cup history, followed by Germany and Croatia, while Brazil’s record is somewhat mixed. Following that cohort, France have won two and lost three shootouts in the World Cup, with Paraguay and Morocco each winning their two respective shootouts.

Despite being renowned for their technical ability, Spain and the Netherlands have a disappointing record in World Cup penalty shootouts, with each team registering just one victory in five spot-kick deciders. England have a poor record in World Cup shootouts too, with just one win in four – which came in 2018 against Colombia. The Three Lions’ record is the same as Italy’s, though the Azzurri’s sole victory came in the 2006 final and clinched the trophy.

Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on a deal to sign Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali after he rejected a move to Manchester City.

Tottenham already delivered a huge bombshell on Tuesday evening when it was confirmed that they are set to beat Manchester United to the signing of West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes, with a £85m agreement reached between the two clubs.

However, Spurs look set to break their transfer record again for the second time this week as they also close in on a big-money deal to prise Tonali away from St James’ Park.

Should the Fernandes deal be completed, then Tonali would be their sixth signing of the summer after moves were also completed for Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and Martin Dubravka.

Having secured three of those players on free transfers, Spurs chiefs are now flexing their financial muscle with other additions, and they are far from finished even if the Fernandes and Tonali deals do get over the line.

Attentions could turn to strengthening their attack next, with one suggestion that they could also look to add two new wingers and a centre-forward to the squad, should one of Richarlison or Dominic Solanke depart.

Tottenham Deal to Sign Sandro Tonali Imminent

via Reuters

According to a top Tottenham source on X, Spurs are now closing in on the addition of Tonali in a deal that will send shockwaves across the Premier League.

Manchester City may already be on the verge of landing Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest in a deal worth £115m upfront, but they also want to land a second central midfielder and had interest in Tonali.

However, it is reported that the Italy international has rejected joining the Premier League runners-up in favour of linking up with De Zerbi at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they look to bounce back from successive 17th-place finishes.