It was May 2, 1996 when Željezničar and Sarajevo played the 66th city derby in the Valley of Cups. After almost four years, Grbavica reopened its gates.
It was a spectacle, again, match was played at Željo’s home, again, and the atmosphere was great, again. Although the war scars were visible everywhere, nothing could spoil the great atmosphere. Everyone was cheerful, nothing could diminish the joy of coming back home.
On the sunny May afternoon, around 20.000 spectators gathered and the kickoff was performed by the former President of the Presidency of BiH, Alija Izetbegović.
The match ended with a result of 1:1. In the 33rd minute, Biščević took the hosts into the lead. Adžem made a good shot from free kick, the goalkeeper of Sarajevo Dedić kicked away the ball that Biščević ran on and kicked in the net, causing great celebration among fans of Željezničar.
At the beginning of the second half-time, Dženan Uščuplić tied. Granov dribbled him amazingly, and the former strategist of the Bordeaux team defeated Guša with a precise shot.
Marko Mrkić from Tuzla had the honor to be a referee at the historical derby. His assistants were Mijo Maričević (Živinice) and Izet Čejvanović (Tuzla).
Players of Željezničar in this match were Gušo, Biščević, Adžem, Fatić, Memić, Kurt, Jahić, Muharemović, Kunić, Žerić and Pehlivanović.
Players of Sarajevo were Dedić, Elkaz, Uščuplić (Selimović), Hošić, Dalipagić, Mujkić, Gogalić, Džaviti (Granov), Ćenan (Ferhatović), Hrvat and Herco.
The spectators left Grbavica satisfied, and the derby demonstrated that it is the greatest match in BiH.
(Source: klix.ba)
