Yugoslavia

[Yugo Count Dante]

Recently I watched 'Fudbal, nogomet i jos po nesto', It's a dvd which consists of 8 episodes with a complete history of the former Yugoslav football team.


I started thinking about an hypothetical team if Yugoslavia was still called Yugoslavia today. I came to the conclusion that it would be one of, if not the best national teams in the world right now (if managed properly).


Here is a list of the hypothetical team (including Kosovo) I found on the internet (too lazy to make my own list atm).

(Possible line-up)

Handanovic
Ivanovic-Vidic-Subotic-Kolarov
Modric
Krasic-Vucinic-Jovetic
Ibrahimovic-Dzeko
​

Bench/Reserves:
Pjanic
Kranjcar
Kovacic
Stankovic
Pranjic
Olic
Pandev
Corlucka
Srna
Misimovic
Rakitic
Illicic
Bojan
Lovren
Kuzmanovic
Eduardo
Zigic
Petric
Ljajic
Spahic
Xhaka
Shaqiri


I'm sure some players are left out, so feel free to share your thoughts, and squad suggestions.

 

[Barcaman]

Not sure about the others but Croatia's glory days are over. Even the best player Modric is only a pale copy of Boban or Prosinecki. And he would never made it in that 90s team. So that team above is not so hot for me or the guys who've seen some history.
Others were better too. Savicevic, Mijatovic, Pancev and co.

 

[Deco 20]

Ibrahimovic?

 

[Barcaman]

Well his family would never have moved if it wasn't for the war and that's kinda the topic of this thread. What if there was still YU.

 

[Yugo Count Dante]

Not sure about the others but Croatia's glory days are over. Even the best player Modric is only a pale copy of Boban or Prosinecki. And he would never made it in that 90s team. So that team above is not so hot for me or the guys who've seen some history.
Others were better too. Savicevic, Mijatovic, Pancev and co.

I'm rooting for Cro this EC, hopefully team spirit will get them far (like it allways does).

I'm not that much following the national teams of Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo. I did see most of the qualification matches of Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia. I think all these players combined (including Ibrahimovic) would be a feared NT.

I think Bosnia definitely has potential to qualify for the WC 2014.

But really, if Yugoslavia existed today, this squad would have potential to win the World Cup imo, and would be a beauty of a team to watch.

The history of Yugoslav football is full of controversial referee calls and pressure to prevent them from being what they were, a great team.

The fact that Pelé insisted to play (with Brazil) against the Yugoslav team for his last game must be the highlight of the recognition of the fact that they were a great team with beautiful football.

 

[Yugo Count Dante]

Ibrahimovic?

Yes, like Bojan said, it's a hypothetical Yugoslav team.

I am sure he would play for Yugoslavia, regardless of the war. He recently mentioned (when they played against Croatia) that he was never called up to play for them, nor Bosnia.

 

[La Furia]

A pan-Yugoslav team would be awesome to watch, that's all I know.

 

[Raed]

And the worst thing about it is that they will all collectively decide to throw away dreams when they are about to achieve them.

 

[DucdeOrléans]

Not only this. Yuguslavia were actually stronger 15-25 years ago as Bojan mentioned and despite that they could not win any trophy. So I would be surprised if that hypothetical team would be able to win the World Cup.

Back in the day I was actually surprised to learn that Czechoslovakia were able to win a major trophy (EURO's 1976) and that Yugoslavia did not win any considering the superior talent pool of the latter.

Apart from that someone need to make a thread of a hypothetical team consisting of players from the former French, British, Spanish, Portuguese etc. empires.

 

[La Furia]

Apart from that someone need to make a thread of a hypothetical team consisting of players from the former French, British, Spanish, Portuguese etc. empires.

What does Yugoslavia have anything to do with colonialism? Last I checked Yugoslavia wasn't one state subjecting other territory to a separate culture. Maybe that Dalitis2 name you promised when Juve wins the league will be accurate after all.

Seriously though, not sure if Yugoslavia would have won the WC, if I recall correctly they had a reputation for bottling it, but they would definitely be a force and fun to watch even in a lesser generation like today. Basketball, on the other hand....

 

[DucdeOrléans]

What does Yugoslavia have anything to do with colonialism? Last I checked Yugoslavia wasn't one state subjecting other territory to a separate culture. Maybe that Dalitis2 name you promised when Juve wins the league will be accurate after all.

Seriously though, not sure if Yugoslavia would have won the WC, if I recall correctly they had a reputation for bottling it, but they would definitely be a force and fun to watch even in a lesser generation like today. Basketball, on the other hand....

I know you are joking but I was merely referring to states that no longer existed. I mean last time I checked Yugoslavia did not exist anymore.

The Daltis part was something I wrote for fun in the heat of the game. Not even sure the mods would allow me to change the name should Milan loss the Scudetto to Juve (God forbid that). And even if they will I will bribe my way out of it. The Italian way.

Apart from that I guess some minorities would say that the Serbs were behaving like colonial masters when they dominated Yugoslavia. Some would even claim that Yugoslavia was established by communist colonialists. You know just like in the former USSR republics where people were fooled to believe that the Soviets were liberators.

They have a reputation for bottling it on the big occasions and also they are pretty bad when they face difficulties. But on their day they could probably beat anyone.

I still remember that Serb playing for Sacramento a few years ago. Great player. And yes, Yugsolavia have been rather successful in basketball. Pretty impressing. Still to this day they have a lot of talents.

 

[La Furia]

Speaking of, you'd probably enjoy the documentary on Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic during the breakup of Yugoslavia, "Once Brothers", it's nice look at the situation from the point of view of basketball players.

 

[DucdeOrléans]

Speaking of, you'd probably enjoy the documentary on Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic during the breakup of Yugoslavia, "Once Brothers", it's nice look at the situation from the point of view of basketball players.

Vlade Divac. That was his name. Still remember watching him and the Sacramentos when a little kid. The only thing I remember (and something that has sticked until today) was his awesome beard and his ability to hit three point shots almost at will.

Thanks. Will try to take a look at it tomorrow (watching NBA right now). If I am not mistaken there was a similar documentary about the war seen from the footballers view and the hooligan events that happened shortly before the war erupted. I am sure Bojan know what I am talking about. If I recall it correctly it was something about Hajduk Split/Dinamo Zagreb and either Partizan Beograd or Red Star. Yugoslavia were also unable to participate in the 1992 EURO's (where Denmark took their place in the tournament and ended winning it) and at that time they had a pretty strong team. Maybe you have watched it as well if not it's worth checking out.

 

[IbraFTW]

Two Yugoslavia games I remember the most were both losses, sadly. First, WC 1982 vs Spain. Spain gifted a penalty. They fail to score from it, ref repeats it, they score on 2nd attempt and end up winning 2-1. I was a kid, I may have cried a bit after that game.

Second, 1990 QF, the best Yu national team I remember, played with 10 men most of the game, drew 0-0 with Maradona's Argentina. In penalty shootout, Maradona's penalty is saved. Our best player, Stojkovic, also fails. Faruk Hadzibegic misses the last pen for Yu (maybe the only pen he ever missed), and we lose 3-2. I was too big to cry, but definitely wanted to

The country falls apart 1 year later. I blame referees, Stojkovic and Hadzibegic.

 

[Yugo Count Dante]

Not only this. Yuguslavia were actually stronger 15-25 years ago as Bojan mentioned and despite that they could not win any trophy. So I would be surprised if that hypothetical team would be able to win the World Cup.

Back in the day I was actually surprised to learn that Czechoslovakia were able to win a major trophy (EURO's 1976) and that Yugoslavia did not win any considering the superior talent pool of the latter.

Apart from that someone need to make a thread of a hypothetical team consisting of players from the former French, British, Spanish, Portuguese etc. empires.

What is your point? as far as I know you have not made this statement in the Catalan NT thread?

If Spain were to fall apart and be divided in 2, 3 or 4 countries, I'm sure there would be a thread about the 'Old Spain hypothetical NT', no?