This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Mostar, Herzegovina.
People in the Balkan love football, and Bosnia is no exception. They play, watch and support big clubs from the English Premier League and then fight about it. There have been several occasions when I was not allowed to leave my house in Mostar because the city’s rival teams were playing against each other resulting in riots after the game. Local people say that it has less to do with the match than the temperamental Balkans who need to burst.
Football madness is not only restricted at the regional level but also spreads nationwide. Bosnian-Croats generally support Croatia’s national team; Bosnian-Serbs cheer on the Serbian national team and pledge their loyalty to the team by wearing blue jerseys. As the qualification round for the World Cup 2010 was coming to and end, I had my share of witnessing this national pride.
I was in Mostar on the day of Bosnia-Turkey and Croatia-England matches. Both games were significant because the results changed the pecking order of the groups. It strengthened Bosnia’s and Croatia’s 2nd-place status to advance to the play-off round and compete for Europe’s last four spots to South Africa. Bosnia tied Turkey which was a good result for them while Croatia was crushed by England. The tension in the city was high with all these pent-up, conflicting emotions on both sides.
I was on my balcony, on the Bosniak side of the town the whole night watching Mostar becoming a bedlam. Cars were honking; people were screaming and cheering; fireworks were exploding. I heard from a policeman later that another policeman was beaten up in that riot. But it was incredible! The liveliness of Mostar–I had never experienced such—it lasted even hours after the match had finished.I was in Sarajevo during Bosnia’s next match, an even more important one because it would’ve guaranteed them the second place for the playoffs. The spirit was incredible. People were walking around in their national colors and gathered to watch the match live on big screen television in a square. Unfortunately, I had to take the train back to Mostar before the match started. Mostar awaited me with the same uplifting sight of people cheering on the streets in huge masses as I had seen in Sarajevo.
I will definitely return to Sarajevo when the playoff match is played against Portugal; the country that produced Christian Ronaldo, the Best World Football Player in 2008. Bosnia needs a lot more than just skills and talent. I am praying for Bosnia’s uphill win to relieve the spirit of the after-match, and of course to have two teams to root for in the World Cup, Bosnia and The Netherlands.
Will it be possible that football in Bosnia will for once not dividing the people but unite them? This would be similar to the divisive Belgians and Spaniards who always unite behind their national football team.
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One thought on “Life in Bosnia: Football Madness during the World Cup”
footballbitsPosted on 6:45 pm - Dec 22, 2009
Just goes to show that football is the same the world over!