World Junior Championships 1987: The "golden generation" of Yugoslavia shines in the afterglow

Croatian national hero Boban's "Kick of the Century" created a historical painting, the fuse of the Civil War ignited the Balkans, and Yugoslavia, a union lacking in cultural heritage and national identity, soon celebrated its death. Judging from the background of the national independence movement, the disintegration of Yugoslavia seems to be in line with the tide of history, and with the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, this great change is sudden and rapid enough. But from a football point of view, things are not so rosy.

The invincible Red Star Belgrade in the 90s acted as a spoiler in European football, the "three musketeers" Prosinersky, Savčević and Pantsev almost blocked the way of Maradona and the Argentine in the Italian summer, and former Yugoslav stars such as Boban, Suker and Mikhailovic imprinted a profound ruler in the long river of football. The more memorable 1987 World Youth Championships marked the rise of the "golden generation" in Yugoslavia and the magnificent afterglow of the fallen giants.

In the summer of 1987, the football event came to Chile, the "promenade" of South America, and although it was only a youth tournament, the Yugoslav squad was shining enough. Stimać was the heart of the team's defence, and when he was young, the former Croatian manager had a steady and conscious style of play, not only against fierceness, but also reasonable control of mistakes, quite a sense of youth. Midfielder Prosinecki is the brains of the team, he is highly skilled, brilliant and organisable, and can be called the representative of "European Brazil", and he was also awarded the best player in that tournament. As the team's top scorer, Suker has an all-powerful "golden left foot", he shoots well, moves strangely, and has an extraordinary ability to get rid of people, and can play the violin in the box.

This year's World Junior Championship was also the moment when Boban was on the rise, when he was more like a combination of Prosinecki and Suker, the central midfielder Boban had a gorgeous style of ball, could use dazzling movements to get rid of defense, and Boban had a strong offensive attribute, and his ability to suddenly cast cold arrows earned him the nickname "Zorro".

At that World Youth Championship, the star-studded Yugoslavia dominated the 433 attacking formation, with Stimać and Mikhailović partnering in central defence, Jurvic sitting at the back, and in front of him the pair of Boban and Prosinecki, Suke on the left and Mijatović on the right, and high school striker Bokosic. On paper alone, this Yugoslavia team made up of superstar embryos is the number one favorite to win the title.

Stimać recalled that when the team arrived at the hotel in the center, thousands of female fans gathered here, shouting, screaming and laughter, and were so warmly welcomed that I believe that the Yugoslav boys did not say anything but their hearts blossomed. "Stimage probably cares more about female fans than we all do." Prosinetsky joked.

But Yugoslav players know very well that this trip to South America is by no means a vacation, let alone a tour, and now faces the affection of fans, but if the results are not good, what awaits them will be the abuse of the coach and the criticism of the countrymen.

After arriving at the opening ground, the Yugoslav supporters suddenly disappeared, and many even "defected" because their first opponent was the host country, Chile. However, even with the help of 80,000 fans, the South American team could not compete with the Yugoslavs, and the 4-2 score confirmed the strength of the Balkan Tigers.

'In the first few games, we were really like an adult team playing a youth team, that's where the opponent is from us. Recalling the group stage, Boban said lightly. If Milan's fame is slightly exaggerated, it is limited to the opener with the hosts. In the next two matches, Yugoslavia beat Australia 4-0 and Togo 4-1, and the Oceania and African teams failed to keep the Yugoslavs nervous, both in terms of results and scenes, and the group stage seemed easier for Boban and his teammates than expected.

The quarter-finals are different, and if they want to advance to the semi-finals, the Yugoslav lads must cross the "Rubicon" in Brazil.

From the first minute, Yugoslavia felt unprecedented intensity, and the overall strength of the Brazilian team was no less than that of the Eastern European powerhouse, and the two teams had each other's attack and defense, and the situation was glued. Just as the referee was blowing the final whistle, Prosineschi's killer goal saved Yugoslavia and opened his arms to them in the semifinal.

This thrilling and exciting victory was like injecting a dose of doping into the Yugoslav players, and the joy of promotion was delayed in the air of the dressing room. Before the semi-finals, joyful Boban and Stimachi attended a dinner hosted by the Croatian community in Chile.

Boban recalls: "We met the beautiful beauty pageant winner and her more beautiful model friends, so we stayed outside until six in the morning for them. "Beauty and wine accompanied by the carnival all night, the two young guys enjoy the brilliance of youth. Unfortunately, the next morning, when they returned to the hotel drunk and sleepy-eyed, they were caught by head coach Jozic, who was pale, angry and serious as a statue. "Pack your bags and get out of here!" Jozik handed down the harshest punishment, even against two indispensable main players.

How dare the young players argue with the manager, Boban and Stimage are like problem students who have been expelled, packing up their salutes and saying goodbye to their teammates one by one. However, the companions were deeply dissatisfied with Jozic's "atrocities", and they rose up to resist, forcing the palace manager to either let the two stay or leave with the whole team. In desperation, Jozić had to take back his life. Perhaps he had expected this scene, and it not only made Boban and Stimach have a long memory, but also promoted the unity of the whole team, and sent a key signal: the mission is not over!

Facing Samol's East Germany in the semi-finals, Yugoslavia won a thrilling 2-1 against teams from the other side of the Berlin Wall in the final.

The suspension of Prosinecki, Mijatović and Stimaci greatly undermined Yugoslavia, but Boban stepped up and his goal in the 85th minute of the game allowed Yugoslavia to touch the trophy with half a hand, only to equalise just two minutes later. The two sides remained at a stalemate until the penalty shootout.

(Boban final goal)

On that night, the scales of luck tilted to the east, and Witcek, who scored the tie penalty, confidently walked to twelve yards, only to miss a few seconds later and the Yugoslavs neatly scored five penalties in a row to finally crown champions in the "Land of the World".

Recalling the exciting victory, Boban said: "We are very proud and very happy, but I think this is not only a valuable victory for Yugoslavia, but also for the generation we grew up with and our priceless friendship, and we deserve this victory. "We were just talented boys before we went to Chile and when we came back we became world champions, which shows that we can go far and we will achieve something in the future as adult players," Stimage said.

As Stimach said, in the World Cup in Italy three years later, the Yugoslav lads wrote the sequel to the story, with Colombia in the group stage, the elimination of Spain in the quarterfinals, and the 120-minute draw with Argentina in the quarterfinals playing one less, enough to show the strength and tenacity of the team.

Members of the "golden generation" such as Stojkovich, Pantsev, Prosinetski, Souk, Boban are radiant, and they are not even at their best years in full youth. However, just as people were looking forward to the bright future of Yugoslavia, only a year later the war crept in, and in the blink of an eye, "Yugoslavia" turned from a solid noun to an empty term, and the talented "European Brazil" was torn apart, it had only a past, no present and no future.

(Supine Push-ups/Xu Yaojian)