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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Croatia Vs Serbia in 2014 World Cup Football Qualifiers -Friday March 22,2013


Some 40,000 Croatian supporters gathered on Friday March 22,2013 in Zagreb,Croatia for the first official match between the now two independent nations - Croatia and Serbia

Croatia won 2-0. Croatia took the lead in the 23rd minute following a wayward pass by Aleksandar Kolarov that subsequently gave Mario Mandzukic a simple tap-in from three yards. Ivica Olic made it 2-0 in the 37th minute

 Croatia's Ivica Olic (R) celebrates after scoring against Serbia during their 2014 World Cup qualifying match at Maksimir stadium in Zagreb, March 22, 2013




Croatia - who will play the return match in Serbia in Sep 2013 - now top their qualifying Group A together with Belgium, and are in a strong position to qualify for the World Cup finals in Brazil in 2014.
But Serbia has all but lost any chances to progress from the group.

There was heavy security in Zagreb, despite an earlier agreement between Croatia and Serbia that travelling fans would be banned from attending the match to reduce the possibility of violence.

And despite repeated appeals by the Croatian football authorities to respect the visiting side, the home crowd soon started singing fascist songs from the 1940s - when tens of thousands of Serbs died in Croatia at the hands of the Ustasa militias.
The Serbian national anthem was booed at the start of the game, and the home fans in Zagreb,Croatia continued with abusive chants against their fierce rivals - Serbia

The two nations fought a war during the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s

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