The coach of the only side making its debut says being in Brazil is the biggest thing to happen to his country since independence

It is September 1979 and Argentina, the reigning world champions, have travelled to the Marakana – the one in Belgrade – to play Yugoslavia in a friendly. It is destined to be a fun, if meaningless, fixture but few are prepared for what happens next. Safet Susic, a 24-year-old midfielder at FK Sarajevo, plays what in chess they call simultaneous exhibition. A player in possession of eight international caps destroys the world champions with a brilliant hat-trick, each goal prettier than the last.

“To be honest, I rarely think about that match,” Susic tells the Observer. “First, it was just a friendly, one of many that I played and many forgot about it, despite the hat-trick against the world champions. And it was easy back then. I was just a player, I didn’t have to think about hundreds of different stuff like now.”

It is not like that any more. The man who was voted the best player in the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina and who picked up a similar award from Paris Saint-Germain, has a different role. Susic is the first coach to take Bosnia-Herzegovina to a major tournament. His Dragons, a team he took over at the end of 2009 after Miroslav Blazevic left for China, will play Argentina in a different Maracanã on Sunday.

“Argentina at the time were a brilliant team,” he says. “But what they have today is magical. Their attacking shape is really impressive. However, we did not come to Brazil to be tourists; we believe in ourselves.

“This is probably the biggest thing that happened to our country since the independence. We went through a horrible war and the wounds are still fresh. People are still suffering and what the football team have done brought something positive to them.”

Bosnia-Herzegovina are the only debutants at the 2014 World Cup. The country gained independence in 1992 after seceding from Yugoslavia and promptly plunged into three years of brutal war that claimed more than 100,000 lives and left behind deep divisions. The Bosnia team was born in 1995, but previous generations – and players such as Hasan Salihamidzic, Meho Kodro, Sergej Barbarez and Elvir Bolic – never made it past qualifying, losing twice to Portugal in play-offs.

Despite a team sprinkled with players from big leagues and spearheaded by Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko, there are concerns the Dragons could suffer from first-time nerves. “I would not say that we are inexperienced,” Susic says. “This team may lack some depth, but its foundation is strong enough. After all, we have players such as Dzeko or Miralem Pjanic, which I think could easily play in any other team in this World Cup.

“Many say that our defence is our weakest point, but I disagree. We have bedrock in Emir Spahic, on who we build a back four. On top of that we have one of the best goalkeepers in the world. If I was offered to replace Asmir Begovic with any other keeper out there, I would politely decline.”

Susic scored 21 goal for Yugoslavia and was capped 54 times, including two appearances in World Cup finals, in 1982 and 1990. In Spain, Yugoslavia failed to reach the second stage after losing to the hosts, drawing with Billy Bingham’s Northern Ireland and beating Honduras. Eight years later Susic was a criticised veteran who turned out to be one of the key players in Ivica Osim’s team. The last Yugoslavia team, led by a Bosnian, went out in the quarter-finals, losing to Argentina on penalties.

“When it comes to the World Cup, there are no rules. We had fantastic preparations for Spain and went out immediately while we struggled before the 1990 World Cup, as well as in the first match against West Germany, and performed well at the end.

“That is why our lack of experience is not that important. At the end, one small thing can decide your destiny. Take that Argentina quarter-final in Italy. Dragoljub Brnovic missed the penalty after he decided to take it with his right foot. I remember him practising the penalties prior to that match, and he always took it with his left foot. He changed his mind and we went out.”

For two years Susic insisted his team play with two forwards, usually Vedad Ibisevic and Dzeko, but that has changed after losses to Argentina and Egypt in friendlies.

“I still prefer to have them both on the pitch, but I don’t think we can play like that against a team like Argentina. We need to reinforce our midfield, to have an additional man there is the only way. Maybe we switch back to 4-4-2 later, but for now we have to be a bit more pragmatic. However, we are not a team that can park the bus, kill the game. That’s just not us, we don’t know how to play like that. The positive thing is that in the World Cup all the teams tend to play football, not to calculate too much. Also, the best players are tired and it is hard to expect the same level of pressing as in the regular season. All this suits us.”

Susic believes his secret weapon is the Ferencvaros defender Muhamed Besic, whom he plays as a holding midfielder. “I always rated him as a big prospect, but now I feel that he significantly improved in all segments of the game. I said that he is the one I believe is able to stop Lionel Messi. It was misinterpreted, but what I meant is that he’ll be the key player in this setup. We’ve seen that he technically and physically improved, that he is hungry of success and he’ll be pleasant surprise for many.”

After Argentina, Bosnia will meet Nigeria and Iran. “In such a group, goal difference can be decisive. We are getting to know Nigeria and Iran, but we’ll find out the most in their match in the group.

“Nigeria has a good team, with four or five top-class players, while the Iranians are sort of unknown for us. However, when the time comes, we’ll be ready. We try not to think about the opposition too much and to focus on ourselves and our performance.”

Susic thinks that Argentina are one of the favourites, together with Brazil, Spain and Germany. “There are four teams that I think will compete for the title, and one of them is definitely Argentina. With the team they have, with Messi, Agüero, Higuaín, Di María … It would be crazy not to think they are capable of winning it. But Brazil will have their chance as well, other two teams being Spain and Germany. Any team out of that circle to win it would be huge surprise for me. England? They are far from that level, even though they have a solid team.”

When it comes to Bosnia, they already achieved a lot by reaching Brazil. But Susic knows this will be forgotten in the event of failure. “In the Balkans we do not acknowledge being average. It is either the best or the worst; we hardly know the concept of middle.

“People now expect us to get out of the group, reach the knockout phase. With the team that we have, that could be a realistic goal. We are finally on the big stage and we deserve it. Now we have a chance to prove that to the world.”