Why is it so hard to cheer for Croatia if you live in Serbia?

Right off the bat, I want to say that this is not some bullshit nationalistic article. I believe in the unbiased and neutral point of view no matter where you are from. I know that these are hard to find but if you look hard enough you just might find them.

Enough of that, let's talk World Cup and this strange rivalry that was inherited by us, the younger generations and why it has no place in football ( or soccer ). For those who aren't familiar with the history of our two nations, here is a small flashback. Not so long ago we were one country, actually a federation. It was a mutual alliance where a bunch of countries came together to form SFRJ. It was based on communism and when people started realizing that it is not such a good idea some countries wanted to get out, Croatia included. This caused some feud and outrage on both sides and started a war no one wanted. As every war, this one brought the worst out of people, a lot of them lost lives on both sides and it ended as it should. Croatia got their independence. End of flashback.

A few years later the two countries were playing versus one another and the Serbian (Yugoslavian) player Mirkovic made a move that resulted in a red card. You can see it in the video below.

This was marked as a heroic move by the nation even though this man showed zero sportsmanship and professionalism.

Why am I bringing this situation up? Well, politics and the media are controlling emotions and thoughts of people in this country for as long as I can remember. They made sure that the hate is still in the air so they can blame anything wrong in the country on Croats or any other rival country. Everyone was to blame except us.

To be fair, there is hate on their side as well. It was shown at a football match a few years later.

Again, no professionalism and pure hate just because we are who we are.

You know what is the weirdest thing here? Almost none of the players on the field in both matches participated in the war. They have only the stories that the media gave them and nothing more. No need to explain that reporting in both countries was 100% biased and both sides were victims in their own eyes.

My dad was in that war. Lucky for me he came home alive but from what he told me it was a liars game played by the big boys. Even today he says that he sees no logic behind it.

Fast forward to 2018 and the state of media in this God forsaken country I live in. Tabloids are the main source of information for the poor because they are cheap af and available in every single store. All you can see in those is pure hate for the Croats since the start of the WC. Just yesterday the celebration of the players and state officials was interpreted as an insult to Serbia. Like they have nothing else to think about except us...

They even turned Alan Sheerer's statement into something he didn't say. At least not in that context. The title stated that he called them walking corpses who have no chance against England. In reality, he pointed out that the players are tired and England is more fit for the match.

The most bizarre case of the media completely turning things around came when Novak Djokovic, our best athlete of all time showed his support for Croatia VS Argentina.

The media didn't know how to handle this so they started mocking him with comics in their tabloids and also commented how he should stick to tennis and stop talking about football. On the other side, we had the president of our country whining about how he was watching the match Croatia - Russia on mute because he couldn't stand how biased our commentary was towards the Croats. A president of a country can show favoritism while someone who is an actual athlete can't? Talk about double standards. The peak of stupidity came from a member of the ruling party calling Novak Djokovic a complete idiot because he is supporting Croatia.

All of this stupidity and nonsense is keeping the people in the dark. As an uninformed nation people here are getting filtered information and are fed with hate every single day on national television and these tabloids. Why? So we could blame our neighbors for our failures almost two decades after the war no one wanted.

Why did I bring this all up? Well, because I am pissed that I can't show support to a team that is playing great football without getting in an argument with someone who never held a gun in their life but somehow knows everything about war. Because everyone knows that the Croats have a much bigger hate towards us than we have towards them and they are the villains in this story while we are the victims. Because people who don't mind that they are cheap labor have a bigger problem with Croatia being in the World Cup final than with their own social status.

This, my friends, is a clear sign that politics should have no place in sports. I know that it is not any better over the border. Croatian people are also fed with lies and bullshit on a daily basis because politicians want us to keep the hate alive so they can manipulate the masses with nationalistic propaganda while we are both sinking into poverty slowly but surely.

At the end of the day, you should know that even though it is a taboo to say that here, I will be supporting Croatia in the finals no matter where I watch the game. This World Cup reminds me of the Leicester fairytale from a few years back and that is the magic only football can bring us. I am sure that this fairytale will have a happy ending just like that one.

That stupid war has nothing to do with us, that stupid hate was thought to all of us by stupid and uninformed people and our stupid politicians are where they are because people buy their stupid stories.

Football is a game that should bring us together so, dear presidents and politicians, try to remember that when you get an urge to blame someone else for your own mistakes. You are the ones who should stay as far away from sports as possible, you and your shameless media supporters.