The historic capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina was under siege for four years in the Bosnian War between 1992 and ’96 and was also where the incident that is said to have started the First World War took place 101 years ago, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
And for U21s and Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Dominic Iorfa, the experience of travelling to such places is an added bonus to representing the Three Lions.
UEFA European U21 Championship
Bosnia-Herzegovina v England
12noon, Thursday 12 November
Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadion, Sarajevo
England v Switzerland
5.45pm, Monday 16 November
Amex Stadium, Brighton
Live on BT Sport
Call 0844 327 1901 for tickets
"It’s different for us as a city and an environment and it’s not something you’re used to, so it’s good to travel," said Iorfa, who arrived in Sarajevo with the Three Lions squad on Tuesday evening.
"When you look out of the coach window and near to the hotel, you see the buildings and it makes you wonder what that was, or what happened there.
"I don’t really know too much about it, but it’s interesting when you hear about the cities that we’re in.
"If it wasn’t for football, without being funny, I probably would never come to Bosnia so it’s good to travel and see different countries and play in different stadiums."
Playing football is exactly what Iorfa is looking for from this trip too, after helping Gareth Southgate’s side to a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan last month in Coventry, coincidentally a twin city of Sarajevo since 1957.
The 20-year-old was a late substitute in that game, coming on for the injured Joe Gomez before setting up Chuba Akpom for the third goal.
And he is hoping that he’s done enough to earn himself a spot in the starting line-up to face England’s hosts on Thursday afternoon.
Iorfa and the U21s trained in Sarajevo on Wednesday afternoon
"I’m hoping that I’ll be one of the players to get a chance and if I do, I want to play well enough to give the manager a problem for when the injured players do come back and I can stay in the side," he explained.
"Firstly, I was happy to be on the bench [against Kazakhstan] but it was unfortunate for Joe [Gomez] to get injured which led to me coming on.
"But I was pleased to get a chance and even though I was only on for ten minutes, I managed to get an assist so I was pleased with what I managed to do."
The squad trained at Sarajevo’s Asim Ferhatovic Hase Olympic Stadium on Wednesday afternoon to get a feel for the facilities ahead of the game, the first of two this week with Switzerland the visitors to Brighton next Monday.
But after two days of preparations at St. George’s Park before making the trip to south-eastern Europe, Iorfa believes the group are primed for action.
"We’re looking forward to the game, especially now that we’ve arrived in Bosnia," he added.
Iorfa and his squad-mates trained in Sarajevo on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the game with Bosnia-Herzegovina
"The buzz for the game is building up and after we’ve trained at the stadium to get a taste of it, we’ll be looking forward to it even more.
"I expect it will be a different kind of atmosphere to what we’re used to, so it’s good to play in these kind of games and get different experiences.
"Coming here, we’re looking for a win but as we know, every international game is tough.
"They [Bosnia-Herzegovina] haven’t won a game yet, but they’ll want to beat us and I’m sure they’ll raise their game against us.
"We have two games this week and we’re looking to win both tomorrow and on Monday against Switzerland.
"They’ll be a good side, but we have good players in the team and if everyone plays well then we should win really.
"We know what we’ll be coming up against, but if everyone plays to our potential then we can beat them."
Tickets for the game with Switzerland at Brighton’s Amex Stadium next Monday are still on sale, priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. Call 0844 327 1901 or click here to buy tickets.
