Our Bosnias

The national football team clearly lost in Bosnia, but the anger of the defeat was far outweighed by the bitterness of the behavior of the hosts of the game - officials, players, spectators - who showed an aggression that is difficult to understand for a football match played in 2025. Obviously, the situation indignants us, but a little understanding doesn't hurt, especially since we... weren't far away either.

In the 80s and 90s, I played football for several teams, including a team from my hometown, which played in the 5th League. At this level, the disputes were simply fierce, it mattered that you knew some football for home matches and were very brave for away matches. It wasn't like that everywhere, fortunately, but there were 5-6 places that caused horror, real "Bosnias". If possible, the rules only allowed "two no-shows", trips to two villages where it was impossible to leave beaten just for football were carefully avoided. In fact, I have two memories from both places, I won't give their names because I found out that in the meantime people have become kinder. At a match played in the village of M. I headed a ball off the goal line that was about to turn into a goal and was rewarded, on the spot, with a bottle of beer, without beer, served directly to my head by a spectator.

I still have the mark.

In the other place, C., I only played in the first half, I left injured and watched the second half with a colleague from that locality. In the end, things got heated and some pitchforks and clubs appeared in the area, my teammates were quick-footed and managed to save themselves by running away on the bus that had brought us. I was forgotten on the spot, and the rescue came from the colleague's father, a very influential gentleman in the area.

Things were not any better at a higher level, the first two leagues, the matches in Petroşani are famous, including from the period when Miron Cozma controlled the team, and the opponents entered the field terrified.

Returning to rural football, I played in that team alongside one of my high school teachers. Even though he was almost 40 years old, he was crazy about playing football and did it very well. At one point, bewildered by these football trips, I asked him why people behaved like that, considering that some of them knew us, were our school or work colleagues. He knew the area very well, he had crossed paths with many students or parents. He told me that for them this notoriety, the label of "măciucari", was a source of pride. They are isolated villages and they want to stay that way, because foreigners scare them and consider them enemies. They are enclaves frozen in time and hatred, and that is why they use sports or discos (fashionable places in the countryside at that time, where scandals were common) to manifest their intentions and aggression. The teacher's explanations came back to my mind long before the match in Bosnia, a year ago, when we were preparing for the elections.

Regarding the insults of the home fans at the Bosnia - Romania match (3-1), it must be noted that our gallery has not sat idly by and provoked enough for a long time.

There is not much more to say about the national team, shepherded by the federation led by Răzvan Burleanu and coached by the venerable Mircea Lucescu. Where it doesn't come from, even God doesn't ask, and in our football, on the Morometian model, "the lack" has been overcome... of value, character, ambition, horizon!