In what was billed as Bosnia’s most tricky assignment away at Greece, Dzeko led the line well but couldn’t quite do enough to turn one point into three.
Edin had a couple of half chances in the first half but was unable to add to the four goals he has notched in their previous two qualifiers but did pick up a caution for a typical striker’s tackle in the 22nd minute.
Bosnia Herzegovina will put themselves firmly in pole position to qualify from their group if they can make it 10 points from four qualifiers when they take on Lithuania on Tuesday.
David Silva’s Spain were taking on Belarus and the diminutive playmaker could have given La Rojas the lead after four minutes when he was played through on goal but he somehow managed to miss the target.
Silva did put the disappointment of that missed chance behind him when he played a glorious through ball for Pedro to make it 2-0.
Pedro wasn’t finished there and went on to bag himself a career first hat-trick in the World Champions’ 4-0 win. Silva was withdrawn for Andres Iniesta after 57 minutes so should be fresh for his meeting with Gael Clichy’s France on Tuesday.
Clichy started France’s friendly match against Japan but the 1998 winners couldn’t find a way through a stubborn defence and went down 1-0 to a late goal by Konno. Les Bleus left the field to boos from the home supporters in the Stade de France.
Mario Balotelli was left out of the squad for the Azzurri’s trip to Albania.
We’ll bring you up to date tomorrow with how Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta fare against Uruguay overnight in Mendoza. We’ll also report on Abdul Razak and the Toure brothers’ exploits in the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Senegal in Dakar.
