Background
With the abolishing of the one-party political system in SFR Yugoslavia in 1990, SR Croatia's (constituent republic within the Yugoslav federation) first parliamentary elections were held over two rounds of voting on 22 April and 7 May 1990 resulting in an overwhelming victory for the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Franjo Tuđman. With the rising nationalism and ethnic tensions, several incidents took place at football matches in SR Croatia over the coming months.
Only six days later, on Sunday, 13 May 1990, a riot broke out at Maksimir Stadium during a Yugoslav First League match between the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade. Dinamo midfielder 21-year-old Zvonimir Boban attacked a policeman and got a 6-month suspension by the Yugoslav FA (FSJ), causing him to miss the 1990 FIFA World Cup as well as the pre-tournament friendlies. [3]
At one of those friendlies on 3 June 1990 versus the Netherlands at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb (Yugoslavia's last preparation match before the World Cup) local Croatian fans booed the Yugoslav anthem and players, while cheering for the opposing Netherlands side which won the match 0-2.
On 26 September 1990, several weeks into the following Yugoslav League season, another incident broke out, this time in Split. Hajduk Split's home match against Partizan Belgrade at Poljud Stadium was cancelled after local fans stormed the pitch, chased Partizan players off, tore down the Yugoslav flag from the official mast and burned it. [4]
Game
The United States was on a tour of Europe where the team was already scheduled to play Poland. Croatian businessman Jure Klarić financed the US$90,000 needed for the Americans to subsequently travel to Zagreb. [5]
The exhibition took place on 17 October 1990. The match took place at the same time as the final of the 1990 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, in which several young Croatian talents played for Yugoslavia (Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker, Robert Jarni, Igor Štimac, Robert Prosinečki and Alen Bokšić). The exhibition was permitted by the Croat secretary of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, Ante Pavlović, who suspended the decision of the association's own committees regarding the match. [6]
Despite conflicting with the Yugoslav juniors' match in the European finals, the match drew 30,000 spectators. Croatia won the match 2–1. The match was officiated by a group of Italian officials consisting of Sergio Coppetelli, Dario Boemo, and Giancarlo Dal Forno, with the Croat Atif Lipovac being the fourth official. [7]
The match marked the debut of the Croatian national team's checkered jersey, designed by Miroslav Šutej who also designed the modern Flag of Croatia and the banknotes for the Croatian kuna. [8]
Zvonimir Boban is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder. He played most of his professional career for Italian club Milan with whom he won four Serie A titles and one UEFA Champions League title. He also captained the Croatia national team which won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ground has been the 33,987-seater Stadion Poljud. The team's traditional home colours are white shirts with blue shorts and blue socks.
The Croatian Football Federation is the national governing body of football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIFA and UEFA, and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of football in Croatia. Marijan Kustić has served as president of the federation since 2021.
Maksimir Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. Named after the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir, it is one of the largest stadiums in the country with a current seating capacity of 25,912 and a maximum possible capacity of 35,423. It is the home stadium of Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and has been used since 1990 by the Croatia national football team for the majority of international competitions.
The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the two most important competitions in the previous season.
The Dinamo Zagreb–Red Star Belgrade riot was a football riot which took place on 13 May 1990 at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, SR Croatia, then part of SFR Yugoslavia, between the Bad Blue Boys and the Delije. The incident took place just weeks after Croatia's first multi-party elections in almost fifty years in which the parties favouring Croatian independence had won the majority of votes. The riot resulted in over sixty people wounded, including some stabbed, shot or poisoned by tear gas.
HŠK Građanski, also known as 1. HŠK Građanski or fully Prvi hrvatski građanski športski klub, was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1911 and dissolved in 1945. The club had a huge influence on the development of football in Croatia and Kingdom of Yugoslavia and achieved its greatest success in the period between the two World Wars.
The 1990–91 Yugoslav First League season was the 45th season of the First Federal League, the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The title was won by Red Star Belgrade, the club's 18th in its history. It also turned out to be the last season in which teams from SR Croatia and SR Slovenia participated. In 1991, these states left Yugoslavia and created their respective leagues.
Football in Croatia is the country's most popular sport. The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) is the governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the nation, both professional and amateur. The national and club teams are governed by UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The history of the sport is delineated by a variety of unofficial sides as Croatia was not an independent entity until the late 20th century.
The 1989–90 Yugoslav First League season was the 44th season of the First Federal League, the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946.
Eternal Derby also known as the Croatian Derby, is the name given to matches between the two biggest and most popular Croatian football clubs Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split.
Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb, commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 1914, the club's only period of success came in the late 1940s and early 1950s before spending most of the following five decades in lower-level leagues.
On 3 June 1990, Yugoslavia hosted the Netherlands in an international friendly at Zagreb's Maksimir stadium. The match was the last preparation friendly for Ivica Osim's Yugoslavia side ahead of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. However, the contest is mostly remembered for the controversy raised due to the spectator behaviour: throughout the match, a nationalist Croat crowd of 20,000 shouted down the Yugoslav national anthem, insulted Yugoslav team players and jeered the head coach. Play on the pitch quickly became secondary as the match turned into another football-related incident reflecting ethnic tensions and rising nationalism in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The 1990–91 season was Dinamo Zagreb's 45th season in the Yugoslav First League. It proved to be their last season played in the Yugoslav league system. Following the season's completion and due to the breakup of Yugoslavia, Croatian clubs, including Dinamo, decided to leave the league to form Prva HNL.
Stadion Koturaška, also referred to as Građanski Stadium was a football stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It was located at Koturaška Road in today's Trnje neighbourhood and was home to the football club Građanski Zagreb for more than 20 years, from 1924 to 1945.
Standings and results for Group 8 of the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying tournament.
Football in Yugoslavia had different levels of historical development depending on the geographical regions. Following the extreme popularity of the sport in Central Europe, it soon became the most popular sport in the territories of Yugoslavia as well.
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won twenty-five Prva HNL titles, sixteen Croatian Cups, еight Croatian Super Cups, and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The club has spent its entire existence in top flight, having been members of the Yugoslav First League from 1946 to 1991, and then the Prva HNL since its foundation in 1993.
The 1989–90 season was the 44th season of competitive football played by Dinamo Zagreb. The season was marked by a football riot on May 13, 1990, at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb on a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade.
The Croatia–Serbia football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Croatia and Serbia.
