Today, as nine-time champions preparing for another Champions League qualifying campaign, we proudly look back on a match played exactly 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
On the hot summer day of June 25th, 2000, Zrinjski played its first-ever European home match, facing Swedish side V\u00e4stra Fr\u00f6lunda IF.<\/p>\n
The match was part of the UEFA Intertoto Cup, a competition that ran from 1961 to 2008, and since 1995 was under UEFA’s administration.<\/p>\n
The Noblemen earned their spot in the competition as representatives of the Football Association of Herzeg-Bosnia, having secured qualification through a playoff against NK \u0110erzelez Zenica.<\/p>\n
In the historic first leg played on June 18th, 2000, at Ruddalens IP Stadium in Gothenburg, today home to a club in Sweden\u2019s fourth division, V\u00e4stra Fr\u00f6lunda claimed a narrow 1\u20130 win. A week later, after 120 minutes of intense football in Mostar, Zrinjski won 2\u20131 after extra time, but it wasn\u2019t enough to advance to the next round and face Macedonian side Pelister.<\/p>\n
Zrinjski was led by coach Vladimir Sko\u010daji\u0107 Taramba, and the starting lineup for the second leg included: Toni Jurjev, Tihomir Skoko, Kenan Lizde, Jo\u0161ko Farac, Slaven Musa, Tihomir Bogdan, Elvis Margeta, Ante Marijanovi\u0107, An\u0111elko Kvesi\u0107, Hrvoje Erceg, and Berislav Milo\u0161. Substitutes Teo Kre\u0161i\u0107, Leon Buhi\u0107, and Dra\u017eenko Bogdan came off the bench.<\/p>\n
Zrinjski leveled the aggregate score through a goal by Milo\u0161 (43\u2019), and the crowd erupted in the sixth minute of extra time when Leon Buhi\u0107 made it 2\u20130. However, V\u00e4stra\u2019s \u0110or\u0111e Uzelac \u2014 the same player who had scored in the first leg \u2014 netted in the 105th minute to secure the Swedes\u2019 passage.<\/p>\n
Now, 25 years later, Zrinjski is a regular participant in European competitions. This summer marks our 19th European campaign, during which we’ve played 78 matches and recorded 29 wins \u2014 more than any other club from Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, as nine-time champions preparing for another Champions League qualifying campaign, we proudly look back on a match played exactly 25 years ago. On the hot summer day of June 25th, 2000, Zrinjski played its first-ever European home match, facing Swedish side V\u00e4stra Fr\u00f6lunda IF. The match was part of the UEFA Intertoto Cup, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,77],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n