WHEN SPORTS STARS are described as national heroes it’s generally a mere reference to their achievements in sport but Zvonomir Boban’s status in Croatia goes far beyond that.
On 13 May 1990, the 21-year-old Boban launched a flying kick on an an armed policeman in an act described by one historian as “a symbol of the uprising against the 70-year Serb domination in Yugoslavia.”
People often trot out the cliche about how sport and politics shouldn’t mix but the reality is that they are often inescapably intertwined.
That was never more evident than when Dinamo Zagreb hosted Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslavian first division just two weeks after the pro-Independence party led by Franco Tudjman had swept elections in Croatia.
With fights breaking out between both sets of ultras inside the Maksimir Stadium before kick off, the match was interrupted by a full-blown riot and pitch invasion before it had even started.
The Red Star players quickly returned to the dressing room and were taken to safety in a helicopter. However several of the Dinamo players including their captain Boban, stayed on the playing field amidst the chaos.
It was then that Boban noticed a policeman in full riot he had seen beating a Dinamo fan with a truncheon and decided to intervene. Completely unarmed, he launched a flying kick that knocked the policeman to the ground before being escorted away protected by a group of Dinamo ultras.
A national hero was instantly born and Boban later said of the incident:
“Here I was, a public face prepared to risk his life, career, and everything that fame could have brought, all because of one ideal, one cause; the Croatian cause.”
Unsurprisingly, the Yugoslavian FA didn’t take such an idealistic view and suspended the player for six months, forcing him to miss the 1990 World Cup. A year later he left the country and signed for AC Milan where he went on to win four Serie A titles and one Champions League.
By then the writing was already on the wall for the Yugoslavian league and just weeks after Red Star Belgrade became European champions in 1991, the Croatian War of Independence broke out, beginning the break-up of the nation.
Outside the Maksimir Stadium is a statue of soldiers that bears the insciption “‘To the fans of the club, who started the war with Serbia at this ground on May 13, 1990.”
While that may be an exaggeration it’s undoubtedly an event that carries huge symbolic resonance in Croatia and one that secured Zvominir Boban’s status as a national icon.
This week in sports history
- Liverpool retain the European Cup with a 1-0 win against Club Brugges (10 May 1978)
- A fire breaks out at Bradford City’s Valley Parade stadium that claims the lives of 56 spectators (11 May 1985)
- Michael Jordan named NBA Rookie of the Year (16 May 1985)
