To our Balkan friends on here..

[Nurah]

I saw that Yugoslav team in 1991 when they won the Euro 1992 qualifying group before, because of the conflict, they where replaced by Denmark who then went onto win the tournament. A class outfit!

Anybody tell me the make up of that team, as in what of the 'new' Balkan countries the players where from?

That 1990 team was actually pretty heavily Bosnian, since the manager, Ivica Osim, was a Sarajevan himself. Faruk Hadzibegic, Davor Jozic, Safet Susic, Refik Sabanadzovic and Mirsad Baljic all played pretty regularly in that tournament IIRC, and they were all from the two Sarajevo clubs. Zlatko Vujovic too, technically... born in Sarajevo. Another one, Mehmed Bazdarevic, would've almost certainly been a regular too, but he was suspended ahead of the tournament for spitting at a referee. That's nearly half the starting line-up + manager... but of course, probably the most exciting names on the roster were from the other republics (Pancev, Savicevic), and especially from the then-emerging generation that had won the youth World Cup in Chile in '87 (Prosinecki, Boban, Suker, Mijatovic, Jarni, etc.).

This is a list of players with 15+ caps organized by republic, so it should give you an idea of where the players traditionally came from. As you can see, Serbia had the most (especially before the World War), followed by Croatia and then Bosnia was a distant but respectable third. The other republics occasionally had important players, but generally never had the same impact as the other three.

Ibrahimovic would be playing for an Ex-Yugo team instead of Sweden if war hadnt broke out.

This is just fantasy. Ibrahimovic has never shown any real feelings for Bosnia, so I don't see why this would have changed for Yugoslavia. Besides, it would have been even more difficult for him to catch people's attentions when he was still an anonymous talent in Sweden.

 

[beverly hills]

for real

or am i having my leg pulled

If you're talking about me being Rag fan, then yes it's for real. But I'm not a fanatic and I'm not even an UK national (Bosnian in fact), so I wouldn't consider myself to be a "true Rag fan" as you guys would put it. I'm more of a guy who enjoys watching football from time to time, and Rags was the team I choose to support when I was 8 years old :P.

And since I'm very loyal by nature, thats the team I stick with. But, due to lack of being born in Manchester and not having all the hatred towards bitter rivals like you locals do, I can have an objective perspective and enjoyment of the game :)

And in my eyes, this season City has a better team so I hope you guys win the EPL, being the underdogs for so long, you totally deserve it. And being an underdog fan supporter of my local club (FK Velez Mostar), I know whats it like to have a glorious past and then be shit for a long long time.

Tell them the Story of Zrinski pinching the White Hill Stadium of you mate, they will love that on here. Visited Vrapčići and White Hill in 2005 although i believe you have new Stands erected now.
Regards etc

 

[DzekOasis]

This is just fantasy. Ibrahimovic has never shown any real feelings for Bosnia, so I don't see why this would have changed for Yugoslavia. Besides, it would have been even more difficult for him to catch people's attentions when he was still an anonymous talent in Sweden.

Ibra wanted to play for Bosnia. We didn't even recruit him, he just offered his services. But he wanted to play for Bosnia. That is a fact. What we don't know all the facts for is why he didn't actually end up playing for us. Some say that he was rejected because one member of the federation possibly said "we have 100 like him", but I've spoken with several people who have credible sources that point to the fact that members of the federation wanted money for him to be allowed to play for us. And he does have strong feelings for us. He is proud of his background. Just look at the first club he played for as a kid: FK Balkan. Obviously, now that he actually ended up playing for Sweden, he isn't going to walk around wearing a t-shirt that says "I wanted to play for Bosnia instead". What good would that do?

 

[reptile]

To our English/Brit friends,

I'm a Bosnian-Yank so to say, having lived in Boston (Massachusetts) for over 20 years and just like my other Bosnians, I fell for MCFC when Dzeko signed. Before that I didn't really have a fav team per se but I liked Man City largely because Mancini was my fav player in the 90s so yeah, that's that.

I have to hand it to you guys for truly appreciating Edin unlike many other fans! I have grown to love your team and beside that, I've spent endless hours reading about not only the team but also the city, people and the history that surrounds it.

Edin is a pride and joy in our small and troubled homeland. I personally love him for being down to earth and well-composed which is truly something that little kids look up to. Not only did you get a well raised Bosnian but you also signed a great role model for future generations.

As far as your chanting goes, I can assure you that every Bosnian who digs Dzeko feels proud not only because of Edin, but because of the way you have accepted him and the way you continue to praise his actions. It shows that you, the MCFC fans are composed of well rounded and respected individuals and for that, Bosnian fans will love and respect your team for many years to come.

Kudos!

 

[Enemy]

I think its brilliant. MCFC has the best fans in England (Up there with Liverpool). As an Eastern European I used to look down on Western European fans until I came across MCFC in 2005. They are really loud and I think you guys are blessed to have such loud, passionate, and understanding fans. I been following MCFC before Dzeko arrived, my hate for United gave me a passion for City.

Wish the best to City, just please take a dump on United this season...

 

[Bluescholar]

Was the Pancev you mention Darko Pancev?
Is he the winger and did he play for Porto when they won the EC years ago?
Or is my memory playing tricks!
Anyway he was a tremendous player that lad.
Anyone know what became of him?

 

[heynahey]

I really like the song.

we need your support against Belarus :D

 

[JamesMCFC]

It would be great if our Bosnian friends sang that during international games!

 

[olddirty]

my hate for United gave me a passion for City.

Wish the best to City, just please take a dump on United this season...

That's interesting.
For me, it was always anti-MU, maybe thats way I liked MC from my early days when I started following PL (back then when big Mo was at Coventry)...

I just can't stand them, don't know why...

 

[balkanno]

It would be great if our Bosnian friends sang that during international games!

He has to score ;]