On 17 October 1990
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
hosted the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in an unofficial international
friendly in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
's
Maksimir stadium
Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 league ...
. Held on the eve of
the nation's independence from
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, this was Croatia's first international match in the modern era.
[Croatia - International Matches 1990-1995](_blank)
, RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...
However, the match was considered unofficial by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
, because Croatia at that time was not affiliated to FIFA. Croatia was readmitted to FIFA on 3 July 1992.
Background
With the abolishing of the
one-party political system in
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
in 1990,
SR Croatia
The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...
'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
The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
(HDZ) led by
Franjo Tuđman
Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
. 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
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...
and the
Serbian club
Red Star Belgrade
Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...
. Dinamo midfielder 21-year-old
Zvonimir Boban
Zvonimir "Zvone" Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder and was usually deployed as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his professi ...
attacked a policeman and got a 6-month suspension by the
Yugoslav FA (FSJ), causing him to miss the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
as well as the pre-tournament friendlies.
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
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
.
Hajduk Split
Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...
's home match against
Partizan Belgrade
Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...
at
Poljud Stadium
Gradski stadion u Poljudu ( en, City Stadium in Poljud), better known as Stadion Poljud ( en, Poljud Stadium) or simply Poljud, is a multi-use stadium in Split, Croatia, which has been the home ground of Hajduk Split football club since 1979. ...
was cancelled after local fans stormed the pitch, chased Partizan players off, tore down the Yugoslav flag from the official mast and burned it.
Game
The United States was on a tour of Europe where the team was already scheduled to play
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. Croatian businessman Jure Klarić financed the US$90,000 needed for the Americans to subsequently travel to Zagreb.
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
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
, in which several young Croatian talents played for Yugoslavia (
Zvonimir Boban
Zvonimir "Zvone" Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder and was usually deployed as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his professi ...
,
Davor Šuker
Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 t ...
,
Robert Jarni
Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a left winger or wingback and current manager.
Jarni started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years playin ...
,
Igor Štimac
Igor Štimac (; born 6 September 1967) is a Croatian football coach and former player who played as a centre back. He is the current head coach of the Indian national team.
In his playing career, Štimac had three spells with Hajduk Split and ...
,
Robert Prosinečki
Robert Prosinečki (; born 12 January 1969) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Early in his career, he was part of the Red Star Belgrade team that won three Yugoslav First League titles and ...
and
Alen Bokšić
Alen Bokšić (; born 21 January 1970) is a former Croatian professional footballer. A forward who spent most of his career in France and Italy, he was renowned for his technique and power, and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the h ...
). 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.
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.
The match marked the debut of the Croatian national team's checkered jersey, designed by
Miroslav Šutej
Miroslav Šutej (29 April 1936 – 13 May 2005) was a Croatian avant-garde painter and graphic artist.
Šutej was born in Duga Resa in 1936. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb and was an associate in Krsto Hegedušić's master ...
who also designed the modern
Flag of Croatia
The national flag, national flag of Croatia ( hr, Zastava Hrvatske) or The Tricolour () is one of the state symbols of Croatia. It consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in colours red, white and blue. In the middle is the coat of arms ...
and the banknotes for the
Croatian kuna
The kuna is the currency of Croatia, in use since 1994 (sign: kn; code: HRK). It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Mint. The plural form of the word kuna in Cro ...
.
Match info
See also
*
1990 Yugoslavia v Netherlands football match
Footnotes
External links
Game footage
{{United States men's national soccer team matches
United States 1990
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
1990–91 in Croatian football
1990 in American soccer
International association football matches
October 1990 sports events in Europe