IN A week of farflung World Cup action ranging from Europe to South America, there is one qualifying game with a difference. It will be played this evening in Bologna and it features the two former Yugoslav republics, Bosnia and Croatia.
As Sarajevo and Bosnia slowly and painfully struggle back to normality, soccer may make its own modest contribution to the Bosnian peace process by signalling Bosnia's first "home" World Cup qualifier.
FIFA have banned Bosnia from playing in Sarajevo's recently restored Kosevo Stadium on safety grounds. Forced to search for a neutral venue, the Bosnian football authorities were more than happy with the offer of a stadium from Bologna, the historical capital of Italian communism.
The Stadio Dell'Ara can hold up to 45,000 fans but many fewer than that number are expected to watch tonight's game with perhaps less than 1,000 Bosnians, 300 of them on their way from Sarajevo by bus and 500 of them from various refugee centres in Italy, on hand to support the "home" team.
To say that this game has political overtones is to state the obvious. For part of the last four years of horrific warfare, Bosnian Muslims and ethnic Croats fought bitterly against one another. Now, of course, following last month's Bosnian elections, they are joined in a tenuous federation.
Even if potential tensions between Bosnians and Croats are small by comparison with the tensions that a Yugoslavia (Serbia) Croatia or a Yugoslavia Bosnia tie might generate, Italian police are taking no chances and will segregate rival fans.
Underlining the difference of this game was the unusually friendly atmosphere generated at a news conference attended by both sides yesterday when Croatia's captain, AC Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban, said:
"Nationalism and patriotism are legitimate sentiments if expressed within a context of respect for others . . . Tomorrow's game is about friendship not brotherhood ... It would have been a different matter if we had to play against Serbia."
In soccer terms, it hardly needs pointing out that Croatia, impressive European Championship finalists this summer, start odds on favourites to win. The Croats will field many of their Euro 96 stars including Suker, Jarni, Stanic, Prosinecki as well as Juventus striker Alen Boksic and Boban of course.
Such a formation would have too much class for many opponents, let alone a makeshift side which has to rely on the talents of one time Yugoslav internationals such as sweeper Mehmed Bazdarevic, goalkeeper Fahurdin Omerovic, full back Sabanhadzovic and mid fielder Bolic.
This, of course, is not Bosnia's first World Cup game - they lost 3-0 away to Greece last month. For team coach Djemalvdin Musovic tonight represents the real beginning of Bosnian soccer's slow journey back into the mainstream. "For us Bosnia Croatia is the first real match," he said yesterday.
The result of this game matters. Croatia are a proud and talented team with every intention of going all the way to France 98.
Yesterday, however, that serious competitive reality played second fiddle to the combined determination of the Bosnian and Croat players to send out a positive message of peace, a message which pointed out that several of them had once been friends playing on the same team and that such friendship remains.
Inevitably preparations for such a game could not pass off entirely without controversy. The Bosnian coach Musovic was asked if it was true that there were only Muslims in his side. That remark had been prompted by the omission of non Muslim Bosnian Kodro, formerly of Barcelona and now with Tenerife.
"We don't ask whether the Italian team is all Catholic," replied a team spokesman.
Indeed. Here's hoping that the spirit of friendship mentioned by Boban prevails in Bologna tonight.
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