1990 Yugoslavia v Netherlands football match

On 3 June 1990, Yugoslavia hosted the Netherlands in an international friendly at Zagreb's Maksimir stadium. The match was the last preparation friendly (known as the dress rehearsal) 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.

Yugoslavia v Netherlands (1990)
EventInternational friendly
Yugoslavia Netherlands
0 2
Date3 June 1990 (1990-06-03)
VenueMaksimir stadium, Zagreb
RefereeFriedrich Kaupe (Austria)
Attendance30,000

Background

Although on what would soon turn out to be its last legs, SFR Yugoslavia (multi-ethnic federation made up of six constituent republics) still existed as a state in 1990 while Socialist Republic of Croatia was its second largest constituent republic populated mostly by ethnic Croats with a large ethnic Serb minority.

Ten years following the death of Yugoslav lifetime president Josip Broz Tito, SFR Yugoslavia was crippled by rising ethnic tensions. In parallel, in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the country was transitioning its system of governance from communist one-party system to democratic multi-party system.

SR Croatia's first parliamentary elections took place from 22 April to 7 May of 1990 with nationalist right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Franjo Tuđman winning in a landslide.

With tensions running high, a football riot took place on 13 May 1990, at Maksimir during a Yugoslav First League match between the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade. Croatian midfielder Zvonimir Boban kicked the policeman Refik Ahmetović and as a result got suspended by the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ) for six months, causing him to miss the 1990 FIFA World Cup as well as the pre-tournament preparation friendlies.[1]

Game

The exhibition versus the Netherlands took place on 3 June and was the last exhibition before the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The crowd of 20,000 booed the Yugoslav national anthem "Hey, Slavs".[2] Fans cheered for the Netherlands, heckling the Yugoslav team and its manager Ivica Osim.[3] Many Dutch flags were also seen in the crowd, owing to their similarity to the Croatian tricolour (red, white and blue).[4]

Aftermath

The match was the last of the Yugoslav team to be played in Maksimir.[5] On 17 October of that year the Croatian national team played its first international match in Maksimir against the United States.

Match details
Yugoslavia 0–2 Netherlands
Report
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Friedrich Kaupe (Austria)
Yugoslavia
Netherlands
GK1Tomislav Ivković
DF5Zoran Vulić
DF3Mirsad Baljić
DF4Predrag Spasić
DF9Faruk Hadžibegić
DF2Davor Jozić
MF10Dragan Stojković
MF7Safet Sušić 59'
MF6Srečko Katanec 59'
MF8Dejan Savićević
FW11Zlatko Vujović (c) 75'
Substitutes:
MF15Dragoljub Brnović 59'
FW17Robert Prosinečki 59'
FW16Darko Pančev 75'
Manager:
Ivica Osim
GK1Hans van Breukelen
DF2Berry van Aerle 68'
DF4Ronald Koeman
DF8Graeme Rutjes
DF3Adri van Tiggelen
MF5Frank Rijkaard
MF6Jan Wouters
MF7Erwin Koeman 79'
MF10Ruud Gullit (c)
MF9Marco van Basten
FW11Wim Kieft
Substitutes:
MF13Danny Blind 68'
DF14Richard Witschge 79'
Manager:
Leo Beenhakker

Footnotes
  1. The Day Yugoslav Soccer Died
  2. Football Archived 4 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Remember the last time we hosted the Netherlands?
  4. In the bus
  5. Yugoslavia National Team List of Results 1990-1999 Archived 19 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, RSSSF

See also
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