The Cup. A memorable final, which also may serve as a test for true greatness: Crvena zvezda vs Borac (Banja Luka). The best team in the country, not to mention the heavy wait of the name Crvena zvezda, vs a team trying to keep place in Second Division. No contest… no need to play, the winner was known in advance. Zvezda was so strong… and the only goal in the final was scored by Lupic. Not a recognizable name and not a Zvezda player… the boys barely escaping relegation in Second Division won!
There is some confusion with this picture – records show the winning goal was scored in the 60th minute of regular time and here looks like Borac players are waiting for the start of penalty shoot-out.
But the Cup was theirs, even if there is another confusion: the kit is wrong. At least sponsor adds were not permitted at the final. Or the boys changed shirts before the next photo.
The losers: standing from left: Stojković, Stojanović, Radovanović, Marović, Krivokapić, Prosinečki.
First row: Cvetković, Đurović, Binić, Jurić, Milojević. Shall we count the national team players here? And no double… and Second Division team in risk of relegation further down beating them… May be not so great squad after all?
The winners. Borac was quite well known club with some strong seasons in the top league, but now they were down on their luck, so it was fascinating victory of the underdog. No famous stars here, but the Cup was in their hands. A fantastic triumph – their very first trophy! Fantastic, because the same team was in very real danger to be relegated to Third Division – not strong enough to play significant role even in Second Division and yet beating mighty Zvezda, practically the Yugoslav national team, the magic Stojkovic and up and coming Prosinecki. Historic success, turning the troublesome season into their best ever.
No wonder the winners were heroes in Banja Luka, made many photos and even dressed in some shiny official suits for official and semi-official celebrations. Cherished moment of triumph, for everybody knew it was a rarity and most likely was not going to be repeated.
Let’s have one more look at them – a regular photo of the team, which here does look really modest – there are not enough shirts with sponsor’s add for all… who would believe they could won the Cup?
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